Alvina Pernot Bourgogne Cote D'Or 2020

"Aromas of citrus zest, white flowers, fresh bread and struck match introduce Pernot's 2020 Bourgogne Côte d'Or, a medium to full-bodied, satiny and chiseled wine built around a bright spine of acidity. It's a strong effort at its level.

Alvina Pernot was awaiting the imminent birth of her latest child when I visited, so I tasted this year with her husband Philippe at their new winery on Puligny's Rue de Bois, a facility that will give them all the space they need to master the élevage and, increasingly, the pressing of the fruit that produces their wines. Readers will recall that, after working for three years at her grandfather's Domaine Paul Pernot, Alvina and Philippe had set up a tiny domaine & maison in Puligny-Montrachet. All of their 2018 vintage was produced from Alvina's share of the Pernot family holdings, but only the Puligny-Montrachet La Rue Aux Vaches was harvested and pressed (vertically) in house, as the rest of the cuvées come from Domaine Paul Pernot in must; that held true in 2019 too, though the range was supplemented by several new appellations, the result of exchanges with other growers. In 2020, this label's most successful vintage to date, La Rue Aux Vaches is joined by another Puligny lieu-dit cuvée that's pressed in house, the Clos des Noyers Brets. Within the Pernot holdings, Alvina and her husband favor earlier-picked fruit and higher-altitude parcels, but it's these cuvées that are harvested and pressed in house that really give the measure of what we can expect in the years to come. Readers will note that all the wines are bottled under high-quality natural cork." -WK 01/2022