We began working with Maurice Rollin in 1982 shortly after his son, Remi, had joined the family enterprise. It was Maurice’s father, Raymond, who first purchased vineyards in his local village of Pernand Vergelesses where, like his father before him, he was engaged as a vineyard worker. Maurice decided in 1955 to begin making and bottling wines from the family holdings and he developed a growing group of private clients to support his efforts. His success provided him with the resources to purchase additional vineyards, including a lovely parcel in the “Ile des Vergelesses”, the most exalted of the vineyards of Pernand. By the mid-1980s, the Rollin family had accumulated ten hectares of vineyards and by the mid-1990s, Maurice and Remi determined to bottle all the wine made at the estate rather than to sell even a small percentage to negociants. In 2003, Simon Rollin, Remi’s son, joined the estate as the fourth generation vigneron.
In its present state (as of 2011), the Rollin domaine covers twelve hectares of vineyards, eight of which are owned with the other four being rented via the system of metayage or fermage. The vineyards are spread over five separate communes (Pernand Vergelesses, Savigny les Beaune, Echevronne, Aloxe Corton and Chorey les Beaune). The estate produces approximately 60,000 bottles per year across fourteen separate appellations!
The estate produces approximately 60,000 bottles per year across fourteen separate appellations.
The vineyard work is meticulous and, although not certified organic, the methodology in practice is applied in a manner designed to maximize the expression of terroir by eliminating (or reducing to an absolute minimum) any treatments in the vineyards. All grapes are harvested manually and fermentations proceed with indigenous yeasts. The white wines are pressed gently and undergo long fermentations in barrel (except for the Aligoté which is raised in stainless steel tanks) and are aged on the fine lees for twelve to fifteen months. The reds are hand-sorted in both the vineyard and at the cellar before being pressed. The maceration is long and the elevage is in small barrel with the malolactic fermentation occurring therein. In almost every instance, neither the white wines nor the red wines are fined or filtered.
Our long history with the Rollin family has provided us with an ever-growing appreciation of the charms of the wines of this domaine and, most particularly, the enchanting terroir of Pernand Vergelesses, one of the villages in the Cote d’Or that produces wines of exceptional value.
Farming
Lutte Raisonnée, certified by Terravitis since 2015
Treatments
No herbicide, chemical and organic fertilizer, synthetic treatments only when necessary
Ploughing
Annual ploughing to promote soil health
Soils
Limestone-clay
Vines
Average vine age 40 years; vines trained in Guyot.
Yields
Controlled through severe winter pruning, extensive debudding, and an occasional green harvest
Harvest
Entirely manual except for the Hautes Côtes de Beaune, usually in late September
PURCHASING
Entirely estate fruit
Fermentation
All fermentations are spontaneous. Aligoté ferments in tank, Hautes Côtes de Beaune wines ferment half in tank and half in barrel. All other white wines ferment in barrel. Red wines ferment in stainless-steel tanks after total destem- ming and a 5-6 day cold soak.
Extraction
A combination of pumpovers and racks and returns, depending on the nature of the vintage
Chaptalization
Chaptalization when necessary
Pressing
Whole-cluster, direct pneumatic pressing for white wines, pneumatic pressing for red wines
Malolactic Fermentation
Occurs spontaneously in barrel in the spring
Élevage
12 months in 228-l barrels (15-20% new) followed by 6 months in stainless-steel tanks
LEeS
Wines stay on their fine lees for the duration of their élevages
FINING & FILTRATION
Most wines are almost always unfined and unfiltered.