Winemaker Notes
Red Burgundy might be the world’s most flexible food wine. The wine’s high acidity, medium body, medium alcohol, and low tannins make it very food-friendly. Red Burgundy, with its earthy and sometimes gamey character, is a classic partner to roasted game birds, grilled duck breast, and dishes that feature mushrooms, black truffles, or are rich in umami.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
A complex bouquet of cool red plum, black cherry, peony, wild forest floor and vanillin introduces a beautifully soil-driven Savigny with a firm core of fine, savoury tannins and crunchy minerality. This beauty will need some time in the cellar to unwind. Drinking Window 2018 - 2050
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Lavières has a comely bouquet with raspberry and crushed strawberry scents, just a touch of vanilla coming from the oak yet it still exudes purity. The palate is well balanced with a rounded and supple entry. There is plenty of raspberry and strawberry fruit, although it needs just a little more structure to bolster the finish. That should come with time.
Range: 88-90
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Savigny-lès-Beaune is a small village near Beaune that produces delightful red and white wines under its own appellation name. Cut by a river, the vineyards on its southern side have sandy soils that result in charming, floral reds. Premiers Crus vineyards on this side include Les Peuillets, Les Narbantons, Les Rouvrettes and Les Marconnets.
On Savigny’s northern side, bordering Pernand-Vergelles, vineyards are planted on rocky soils and produce juicy and spicy Pinot Noir. The village’s best whites, all made of Chardonnay, are full on the palate and abound in texture, complexity and freshness.