2017 Savigny-lès-Beaune, Les Pimentiers, Vieilles Vignes, Domaine Camus-Bruchon & Fils, Burgundy

Domaine Camus-Bruchon

Savigny-Les-Beaune

The wines of Savigny are often as good as those of Beaune itself, a local motto describing them as ‘Théologiques, Nourissants et Morbifuges’. They are usually good to drink at three to five years old. A small amount of white wine is also made.

• 239 hectares of village Savigny-lès-Beaune.
• 144 hectares of premier cru vineyards (22 in all). Best vineyards include Les Lavières, La Dominode, Les Vergelesses
• Recommended Producers: Bize, Pavelot
• Recommended Restaurant : Le Vieux Moulin (at Bouilland, beyond Savigny. * Michelin)

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir is probably the most frustrating, and at times infuriating, wine grape in the world. However when it is successful, it can produce some of the most sublime wines known to man. This thin-skinned grape which grows in small, tight bunches performs well on well-drained, deepish limestone based subsoils as are found on Burgundy's Côte d'Or.

Pinot Noir is more susceptible than other varieties to over cropping - concentration and varietal character disappear rapidly if yields are excessive and yields as little as 25hl/ha are the norm for some climats of the Côte d`Or.

Because of the thinness of the skins, Pinot Noir wines are lighter in colour, body and tannins. However the best wines have grip, complexity and an intensity of fruit seldom found in wine from other grapes. Young Pinot Noir can smell almost sweet, redolent with freshly crushed raspberries, cherries and redcurrants. When mature, the best wines develop a sensuous, silky mouth feel with the fruit flavours deepening and gamey "sous-bois" nuances emerging.

The best examples are still found in Burgundy, although Pinot Noir`s key role in Champagne should not be forgotten. It is grown throughout the world with notable success in the Carneros and Russian River Valley districts of California, and the Martinborough and Central Otago regions of New Zealand.