Description
The wine
Pernand-Vergelesses is the village most people overlook — tucked behind the Corton hill, facing southeast, sharing the same limestone soils as one of the Côte de Beaune’s most celebrated appellations. The village wines from this corner of the Côte de Beaune are consistently underpriced relative to their quality, which is exactly the kind of situation Mark Haisma looks for.
Les Pins takes its name from the pine trees at the top of the slope — a lieu-dit that sits on well-drained limestone soils on the upper village hillside. The exposure and the elevation give the wine a natural freshness and aromatic precision that distinguishes it from the heavier, more extracted styles of the neighbouring villages.
Mark’s approach here is the same as across the entire Haisma range: careful sorting, gentle fermentation in concrete, very little intervention, 12 months in old oak. No new wood. The goal is brightness and precision — what he describes as crunchy acidity with good structure but no heaviness. At $71 it is one of the most honest expressions of village Côte de Beaune Pinot Noir on the Amitié list.
Mark also farms the Premier Cru En Caradeux Blanc in the same village — a white wine from the hillside directly across from Corton-Charlemagne. The Pernand-Vergelesses is a genuine two-wine story in a village most buyers haven’t discovered yet.
Tasting notes
Bright ruby. Red cherry, raspberry, a hint of violet and limestone mineral on the nose — the aromatic freshness of an elevated Côte de Beaune village site. The palate is light and precise with fine-grained tannins, vibrant acidity, and a clean mineral finish. No weight, no heaviness — a Pinot Noir that rewards attention rather than demanding it. Approachable now and best over the next five years. Drink now through 2029.
Service: 16°C. Roast chicken, light game, salmon, soft cheeses. Works well slightly chilled.
2022 vintage note
2022 was a warm, generous vintage across the Côte de Beaune — excellent growing conditions producing wines of good concentration and depth. For a well-drained, elevated village site like Les Pins, the vintage adds fruit weight without sacrificing the freshness and mineral precision of the terroir. More immediately approachable than a cooler year — drink now through 2029.
About Mark Haisma
Mark Haisma is an Australian-born winemaker based in Gevrey-Chambertin since 2007. He trained at Yarra Yering in Victoria before moving to Burgundy, where he built a micro-négociant operation from a rented cellar into one of the most sought-after small productions in the Côte de Nuits.
