Jean-Marc Pavelot Savigny-lès-Beaune, 2016

We’ve just landed a very limited allocation from top Burgundy producer Domaine Pavelot. We have picked the cream of the crop from vintage 2016, which includes his highly rated 1er Crus - La Dominode, Aux Gravains and Aux Guettes.

This is a superb offering from this great Domaine – considered by most critics to be the best producer in Savigny-lès-Beaune.

The Pavelots have been cultivating vines in the village of Savigny-lès-Beaune since the French revolution, but it was Jean-Marc’s father who began domaine bottling after returning from the war. Jean-Marc really put the domaine on the map in the 1980s and assisted by his son, Hugues, has been quietly producing excellent wines ever since.

The 2016 vintage produced yields which were down an incredible 80% at Domaine Pavelot. That did not dissuade the domaine from doing the very best they could with what little they received, and harvest duly commenced on 22 September, with average yields a paltry 10-12 hectoliters per hectare. Because the crop loads were so low, the vines were able to fully ripen the fruit and in particular the skins were quite thick.

With such small quantities, Pavelot did not extract too much and the quality is once again very good, as you would expect given this talented winemaker, with the style through the range considered to represent nothing short of classic Burgundy.

 "If you want to see what Savigny can do...you know where to look. Here."
— Neal Martin, RobertParker.com