Description

Every year Savigny-Champ-Chevrey is one of my favourite Burgundy wines. Delicate, red-fruited, roses and violets, hints of black stone/schist, a whiff of charry oak. The palate is light, fresh and the acidity and lovely and clean. Savigny-Champ-Chevrey drinks well young but it’ll evolve and develop some weight after 3 years. Have Savigny-Champ-Chevrey with steak au poivre.

Everything about this fine Domaine is attractive – even the elaborately decorated concrete cuves. The Tollot’s and the Beaut’s have remained together for many generations and therefore have maintained excellent and valuable vineyard holdings. The younger generation – cousins Nathalie, Jean-Paul and Olivier direct the Domaine. They have made substantial changes in the past few years and quality has risen at this progressive and fine Domaine. Always a consistent source of delightful and serious Burgundy that represents very good value coupled with wonderfully stylish presentation.

Burgundy

The classic part of Burgundy known as the Cote D’Or (the slope of gold) is essentially one vineyard that is 60km long and maybe 5km at its widest. From this limestone ridge, some of the most complex, long-lived and aromatic wines are produced from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The Cistercian monks who owned the land codified the entire region and so each small plot has a name.

Savigny-Les-Beaune

A satellite appellation of Beaune. The wines can be quite varied but the best producers make forward and sturdy wines that are immensely enjoyable.

Pinot Noir

This is the most elusive grape. It is relatively early ripening and extremely sensitive to terroir. Its perfect place on earth is the Cote d’Or in Burgundy. So haunting are great red Burgundy’s charms that growers everywhere try to emulate them. Pinot Noir is not just a one-trick pony, it can make great reds, rosé, sparkling and even sweet wines, whites on occasion and I’ve tasted a decent fortified Pinot Noir too.