View from the cellar n°24

By John Gilman, November-December 2009

Jean-Marc and Hugues Pavelot were in a good mood at the time of my early morning visit to the domaine. The family has added a couple of new wines to their lineup with the 2008 vintage, and Aloxe-Corton villages bottling that was quite lovely and a small slice of Corton blanc, which is enough to produce one barrel of absolutely outstanding wine. The malos were as late here as in most other cellars up and down the Côte, but all had finished by the time of my November visit, though of course those that had finished sooner were in a much happier state of mind for tasting. A few of the wines had just finished their malos shortly before my visit, and they still showed the after-effects from the fermentation, with more agitated structures and the perception of malic acid quite pronounced still. For these wines, I have scored them within a range. However, based on how beautifully the other wines showed whose malos had been finished for several months, it is hard not to assume that the late-finishing wines will ultimately merit scores at the very top end of their respective ranges. I did not taste the Narbantons on this trip, as it had been racked only a few days before my visit and was in no shape to be evaluated. I have been visiting the Pavelots every year now for a decade and have never seen them miss an opportunity to capture all of the potential of each succeeding vintage, and this is certainly the case in 2008, where they have made classically balanced, transparent and poised examples from their fine lineup of premier cru vineyards. My tasting experience with the domaine only goes back as far as a handful of 1993s that I have tasted, but I am sure that they have been making consistently excellent wines for many years before that. Like the other top tier producers in Savigny-les-Beaune, the Domaine Pavelot wines are amongst the most amazing red and white Burgundy values to be found in this day and age, and any well-stocked Burgundy cellar that eschews the wines from estates such as the Pavelots’ is not as well-stocked as it’s owner may believe.

2008 Savigny-les-Beaune - 88

The 2008 Savigny AC was one of the first wines to finish its malo in the cellars this year, and the wine had all been racked into stainless steel tanks three to four weeks before my visit. The wine was showing very well, as it offers up a complex nose of red currants, black cherries, woodsmoke, lovely soil tones and a topnote of Savigny spice. On the palate the wine is medium-full, long and very pure on the attack, with modest tannins, bright acids and fine length and grip. A very classy villages in the making that will need four or five years to blossom completely. 2014-2030+.

2008 Aloxe-Corton - 87-88

The new addition of Aloxe-Corton was also a very fine village wine, but it was not quite as sanguine to be tasted as the Savigny AC. The bouquet is deep and very, very transparent, as it offers up scents of black cherries, blood orange, stony minerality, vinesmoke and orange peel. On the palate the wine is medium-full and very elegant for young Aloxe, with good mid-palate depth, nice balance and just the faintest edge of greenness on the backend. The green note may be simply a function of the wine not having fully settled in after its malo, or it may always be part of the wine. Time will tell, but either way this is a very tasty bottle. 2014-2030+.

2008 Savigny-les-Beaune “Serpentières” - 88-89+

The ’08 Serpentières had just been racked a short time before my visit and was not yet recovered. The wine was a bit upset on both the nose and palate as a result, but its ultimate quality was certainly quite evident. The nose reluctantly offers up scents of black currants, a touch of Savigny fruitcake, espresso, smoke and a complex base of soil. On the palate the wine is fullish, complex and very long and tangy, with moderate tannins and lovely balance on the soil-driven finish. I am sure this will be lovely, but it was not happy to be tasted in November. 2016-2040.

2008 Savigny-les-Beaune “les Peuillets” - 89+

The les Peuillets was much more on form than the Serpentières, and this will be a lovely bottle in 2008. The focused and classy nose offers up scents of black cherries, red currants, a touch of game, stony minerality and a topnote of currant leaf. On the palate the wine is fullish, nicely reserved and possesses a lovely core of sweet fruit, with tangy acids, lovely focus and really suave, well-integrated tannins buried into the long finish. Just a classic bottle of Savigny premier cru, the Peuillets should turn into a velvety and complex middleweight with six or seven years of cellaring. 2016-2040.

2008 Beaune “Bressandes” - 90

The Bressandes was the very last wine to finish its malolactic in 2008 in the Pavelot cellars, and yet the wine was showing very well indeed in November. The bouquet is deep, complex and strikingly pure in its aromatic mélange of black cherries, blood orange, dark chocolate, complex minerality and an incipient note of game. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, pure and plush on the attack, with a lovely spine of minerality, a sappy core and excellent length and grip on the finish. Classy juice. 2016- 2040.

2008 Savigny-les-Beaune “aux Guettes” - 90+

The 2008 Guettes was also showing beautifully at the time of my visit. The bouquet is deep, complex and nicely reserved, as it offers up notes of cassis, black cherries, coffee, woodsmoke, gamebirds and a fine base of complex soil tones. On the palate the wine is medium-full, long and tightly-knit, with a fine core of fruit, lovely balance, impressive nascent complexity and fine-grained tannins that perk up the very long, classy finish that closes with notes of lingering minerality. Just a lovely bottle in the making. 2016-2040.

2008 Pernand-Vergelesses “aux Vergelesses”

The 2008 Vergelesses was another of the late finishing wines in the cellar, and it was still in the throws of its malolactic fermentation hangover and grumpy as could be. The wine this year is very pure and stony in profile, with a lovely core of sweet black fruit and fine focus, but it was still quite unsettled and showing a pronounced malic edge on the backend. It was not possible to review the wine properly, but given how strong the cellar was across the board, it is extremely unlikely that this will not prove to be an excellent wine.

2008 Savigny-les-Beaune “aux Gravains” - 96

The 2008 Gravains was very much on form and simply singing at the time of my visit. The bouquet is deep, complex and very, very fine in ’08, as it jumps from the glass in a blend of pure black cherries, dark berries, dark chocolate, complex soil tones, orange zest and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, suave and beautifully balanced, with ripe tannins, impeccable focus and outstanding length and grip on the classy and very transparent finish. A superb bottle. 2016-2040. 92.

2008 Savigny-les-Beaune “la Dominode” - 92+

The 2008 la Dominode was also showing beautifully, and it too will be a dynamite bottle of Savigny down the road. The exceptionally pure bouquet offers up scents of cassis, black cherries, a bit of blood orange, iron-like soil tones, a touch of violet and a deft framing of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is medium-full, long, pure and very complex, with a sappy core of fruit, fine-grained tannins, excellent focus and lovely length and grip on the properly reserved finish. Classy juice. 2016-2040+.

2008 Savigny-les-Beaune Blanc

The 2008 Savigny-les-Beaune blanc had just been assembled to settle in before bottling sometime soon after the new year, and consequently was not particularly happy to be shown. The wine’s aromatics were pure and precise, with scents of pear, lime zest, chalky soil tones and spring flowers in the upper register. However, the palate was still quite unsettled and difficult to get a read on in terms of its shape and structure. This is consistently one of my favorite white Burgundy values to be found on the market, and the case of 2004 that I bought a few years ago continues to blossom beautifully and drink with great style and aplomb. I would suspect that this 2008, once it settles back in after its racking, will be even superior to the lovely 2004.

2008 Corton Blanc - 93

As I noted above, there is only one barrel of this lovely wine, which was raised in a “one wine” barrel to keep it from being too marked by new wood. It is really a very exciting new addition to the lineup at Domaine Pavelot, as the wine offers up an outstanding bouquet of pear, apple, a touch of passion fruit, lovely minerality, acacia blossoms and a very discreet framing of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, fullbodied and quite generous on the attack, with a great core of fruit, impeccable soil inflection and lovely focus and cut on the very long, classy finish. A superb bottle that it will be well worth starting to ask for early on, as twenty-five cases will not go very far in a thirsty world. 2010-2025+.

Allan Meadow's