Rapet's 2017 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru En Caradeux Blanc is a lovely wine, unfurling in the glass with aromas of green orchard fruit, dried flowers and honeycomb. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, fleshy but succulent with broad shoulders, racy acids and a pure, stony finish.
The Rapet family can trace its roots in Pernand back to 1795, and they are both one of the largest landholders in Corton-Charlemagne, as well as one of its finest exponents, so it is a mystery why these wines aren't better known and better distributed. There's a long track record here, and I can extol the merits of the domaine's older wines from personal experience: the 1979 is among the best mature examples of Corton-Charlemagne I've tasted. Under Vincent Rapet's attentive eye, vinification is pretty classic, with the whites whole cluster pressed and fermented in barrels (some 20% of which are new), as well as a few concrete eggs for some cuvées that Rapet believes give a more tensile, fresher profile to the wine. The reds, which have improved in recent years, see a brief cold soak followed by some 15 days of maceration, maturing in around 30% new wood from carefully chosen sources including Chassin and Taransaud. In addition to the flagship white grand cru, there are plenty of wines for insiders here, above all the old vine Pernand Sous Frétille. In summation, this is a fine source that deserves more attention, especially in view of its very reasonable prices. William Kelley, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate