Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Sasha, Rahsaan, Jeff, Jayson, Jay, Dale, Craig
It is a day of glorious weather. A bistro in my neighborhood, Levant, has given us a private outside table with a huge tree to shade us from the briliant sun. We order a bunch of starter plates to pass around -- tuna tartare, zucchini pancakes, goat cheese parcels, garlic shrimp, and the like -- and most of us settle on the open-face steak sandwich as the best accompaniment to the imminent red tide of Burgundy.
But first, a primer on Savigny-les-Beaunes:
Savigny-les-Beaunes is a pair of ridges (and valleys) southwest of Pernand-Vergelesses and Corton. As you can see, the vineyard-designated cuvees that we generally get in the US are spread out across both ridges. But the wineaux coming today own a lot of Pavelot and some Ecard so we've chosen to go with the more southerly ridge. (Sasha, being Sasha, has no holdings there so brings Chandon de Briaille from the other ridge, for which I cannot fault him.)
First up, a sparkler:
Delamotte 2008 Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs - beautiful nose, leesy aromas but less so in the mouth, "What acidity!" -Sasha, the palate starts out heading for brioche but then discovers it wants to be lemony and "seashelly" -Jay; finish is a little light, but pretty wine overall
And that happens to be our only white wine today.
Now the reds. We served all the wines in reverse order of the vintages, though for simplicity I am reporting the '98 Pavelot in the same block its siblings.
Pavelot Savigny-les-Beaunes "La Dominode" - vintage:
2010 - "grumpy" -Sasha, "hint of VA that sharpens the nose" -Jayson, although it is an elegant nose it is also slightly rough/rustic on the palate, Sasha thinks the wine is still just folded in on itself: "'10s attain elegance only at maturity"
2008 - elegant and long, the palate is a typical red burgundy profile that hints at yellow fruit rather than dark earth, a little more juicy and red-fruited than the '10, a little more ready to drink than the '10
2007 - similar to the '08 but rather more delicate and further resolved (which I suppose means that interesting tensions are fading, making harmony more noticeable)
2006 - weaker yet, but Dale thinks this bottle is not perfect
2005 - chunky, better-integrated than the '10, but still unready and needs time; tasted again later, this has smoothed-out its kinks a bit but still hold
2004 - no greenies; again delicate, "I always serve '04 Burgundy in Bordeaux glasses" -Sasha, which he elaborates upon: the wines have little aromatic breadth but they are pure and good when focused; we all agree Pavelot did a good job with a so-so year
1998 - totally "en famille" but much more black fruit than any of the others, going strong
Chandon de Briailles 2005 Savigny-les-Beaunes - 12.5%, this immediately grabs you on entry but then relaxes its grip and makes nice
Chandon de Briailles 2005 Savigny-les-Beaunes "Les Lavieres" - wow, so much mid-palate, a Dagwood of flavors with bright red fruit, old lady's handkerchief, delicate wisps of resin, and more; wow
Marechal 2005 Savigny-les-Beaunes "Les Lavieres" - pretty nose and good palate presence but this is not in the same class as the CdB wines; serve it by itself and you'll be happy
Bize 2002 Savigny-les-Beaunes "Aux Vergelesses" - wonderful wine, less showy than the Chandon de Briaille wines but more ooomph, is that Bize or '02 talking?
Ecard 1999 Savigny-les-Beaunes "Les Narbantons" - garnet, more structure and more color than the Pavelots, more black raspberry than red cherry, in the same league as the Pavelot wines but a different take, more vigor at the expense of balance
Ecard 1999 Savigny-les-Beaunes "Les Jarrons" - this shows older... orangey color, cedar and citrus zest, still some red fruit but the acidity is receding
I retried a few bottles the next evening... Ecard "Narbantons" and Pavelot 2008 were still in fine shape but fading; the Pavelot 2004 was best of the three!
Summing up: Despite the preponderance of bottles, I didn't hear anybody rank Pavelot above Chandon de Briaille or Bize. I recall that Pavelot wines drank very nicely when young; perhaps they lost some grace as they aged; perhaps we've gotten accustomed to better as we aged. On the other hand, we saw vintage characteristics writ loud and clear so bravo to all the makers for transparency to the terroir.
Thanks to everyone who came, and thanks to Levant for lovely afternoon service.
And a nod to the Disorderly conversation that sparked the idea.
It is a day of glorious weather. A bistro in my neighborhood, Levant, has given us a private outside table with a huge tree to shade us from the briliant sun. We order a bunch of starter plates to pass around -- tuna tartare, zucchini pancakes, goat cheese parcels, garlic shrimp, and the like -- and most of us settle on the open-face steak sandwich as the best accompaniment to the imminent red tide of Burgundy.
But first, a primer on Savigny-les-Beaunes:
Savigny-les-Beaunes is a pair of ridges (and valleys) southwest of Pernand-Vergelesses and Corton. As you can see, the vineyard-designated cuvees that we generally get in the US are spread out across both ridges. But the wineaux coming today own a lot of Pavelot and some Ecard so we've chosen to go with the more southerly ridge. (Sasha, being Sasha, has no holdings there so brings Chandon de Briaille from the other ridge, for which I cannot fault him.)
First up, a sparkler:
Delamotte 2008 Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs - beautiful nose, leesy aromas but less so in the mouth, "What acidity!" -Sasha, the palate starts out heading for brioche but then discovers it wants to be lemony and "seashelly" -Jay; finish is a little light, but pretty wine overall
And that happens to be our only white wine today.
Now the reds. We served all the wines in reverse order of the vintages, though for simplicity I am reporting the '98 Pavelot in the same block its siblings.
Pavelot Savigny-les-Beaunes "La Dominode" - vintage:
2010 - "grumpy" -Sasha, "hint of VA that sharpens the nose" -Jayson, although it is an elegant nose it is also slightly rough/rustic on the palate, Sasha thinks the wine is still just folded in on itself: "'10s attain elegance only at maturity"
2008 - elegant and long, the palate is a typical red burgundy profile that hints at yellow fruit rather than dark earth, a little more juicy and red-fruited than the '10, a little more ready to drink than the '10
2007 - similar to the '08 but rather more delicate and further resolved (which I suppose means that interesting tensions are fading, making harmony more noticeable)
2006 - weaker yet, but Dale thinks this bottle is not perfect
2005 - chunky, better-integrated than the '10, but still unready and needs time; tasted again later, this has smoothed-out its kinks a bit but still hold
2004 - no greenies; again delicate, "I always serve '04 Burgundy in Bordeaux glasses" -Sasha, which he elaborates upon: the wines have little aromatic breadth but they are pure and good when focused; we all agree Pavelot did a good job with a so-so year
1998 - totally "en famille" but much more black fruit than any of the others, going strong
Chandon de Briailles 2005 Savigny-les-Beaunes - 12.5%, this immediately grabs you on entry but then relaxes its grip and makes nice
Chandon de Briailles 2005 Savigny-les-Beaunes "Les Lavieres" - wow, so much mid-palate, a Dagwood of flavors with bright red fruit, old lady's handkerchief, delicate wisps of resin, and more; wow
Marechal 2005 Savigny-les-Beaunes "Les Lavieres" - pretty nose and good palate presence but this is not in the same class as the CdB wines; serve it by itself and you'll be happy
Bize 2002 Savigny-les-Beaunes "Aux Vergelesses" - wonderful wine, less showy than the Chandon de Briaille wines but more ooomph, is that Bize or '02 talking?
Ecard 1999 Savigny-les-Beaunes "Les Narbantons" - garnet, more structure and more color than the Pavelots, more black raspberry than red cherry, in the same league as the Pavelot wines but a different take, more vigor at the expense of balance
Ecard 1999 Savigny-les-Beaunes "Les Jarrons" - this shows older... orangey color, cedar and citrus zest, still some red fruit but the acidity is receding
I retried a few bottles the next evening... Ecard "Narbantons" and Pavelot 2008 were still in fine shape but fading; the Pavelot 2004 was best of the three!
Summing up: Despite the preponderance of bottles, I didn't hear anybody rank Pavelot above Chandon de Briaille or Bize. I recall that Pavelot wines drank very nicely when young; perhaps they lost some grace as they aged; perhaps we've gotten accustomed to better as we aged. On the other hand, we saw vintage characteristics writ loud and clear so bravo to all the makers for transparency to the terroir.
Thanks to everyone who came, and thanks to Levant for lovely afternoon service.
And a nod to the Disorderly conversation that sparked the idea.
