A deep and dark nose. Plenty of grainy tannin here coupled with mouthwatering acidity too. Fortunately the fruit is also very interesting and seems up to the job. Good as it is, it’s twice the price of Pavelot’s and not as good.
Savigny-lès-Beaune Les Dominode
2005 Pavelot Jean-Marc et Hugues Savigny-lès-Beaune Les Dominode
Medium-plus colour. The nose starts as a sumptuous swirl of deep cherry and well-integrated oak, an hour from opening and it’s tighter with edges of tobacco and cocoa. Like the nose, this starts hyper-concentrated yet plush, but like the nose it’s a transitory period before it tightens to show its inner self; intensity, excellent acidity and furry tannin before a good finish. Sumptuous and hedonistic for 25 minutes, underneath there’s the power and structure for 25 years of development. Given the tightening I would suggest drinking only over the next 6 months before sleeping for at least 10-plus – but buy all you can find, and that’s despite a 30% price increase over the last 4 vintages.
2005 Boisset Jean-Claude Savigny-lès-Beaune Les Dominode
From old south-east facing vines planted in 1901 – only about 3% have been replaced. The nose is wide but with good focus to the ripe red fruits – very impressive. This wine had 15 months in barrel, but none were new as thee were only 3 barrels. The first impression is the good texture of the tannins, then the linear long, rather than wide presentation of the fruit. Frankly a bit of a stunner.