2019 Domaine Jean-Marc Pavelot Aux Gravains, Savigny-les-Beaune Premier Cru, Burgundy

‘Fine classic purple, with a really stylish yet also attractively full bodied bouquet, then plenty of substance at the front of the palate. Fine grained here, as Hugues likes to use Tronçais wood on this. Fine indeed, but with a volume of fruit as well.’ 

90-92 points Jasper Morris insideburgundy.com June 2020

‘Notes of oak toast and menthol surround the moderately high-toned aromas of red and dark cherry, plum and warm earth. There is terrific intensity to the vibrant, intense and well-detailed medium weight flavors that also brim with minerality on the even more compact, austere and firmly constituted finale. The quality is excellent though I underscore that this is presently a block of stone and it would be largely pointless to open a bottle before at least 7 to 8 years have passed.  Sweet spot Outstanding’ 

“Hugues Pavelot noted that 2019 "gave us excellent raw materials that were ripe, clean and with good acidities. We picked from the 11th of September and while we could pick quickly because the fruit was so clean, we unfortunately could also pick quickly because there wasn't very much fruit as the average yields were only 30 hl/ha. Potential alcohols were strong, especially for Savigny, as they ranged from 13.5 to 14%. We had no trouble with the vinifications though it was necessary to watch them carefully as the yeast gobbled up the sugars very quickly. As such, I didn't employ what I would call a light extraction strategy though it certainly wasn't aggressive either. As to the results, I am extremely happy with the wines as they're very serious with excellent densities and structures without any excesses. They are definitely more classic than their 2018 counterparts and wines that should age for as long as anyone might reasonably want them to." As is often the case, I found the quality of the Pavelot 2019s to be very good to excellent and these are wines to consider and particularly so as they generally offer very fine price/value.

Pavelot has been one of my go-to names in Savigny-lès-Beaune for several years now. They have consistently produced excellent Savignys

Neal Martin vinous.com Jan 2020