2022 Hugues Pavelot Chorey-les-Beaune Les Beaumonts, Burgundy

The 2022 Chorey-lès-Beaune Les Beaumonts has a lifted, red-fruited nose with red cherries and crushed strawberry fruit, quite exuberant in style, though not showy. The palate is medium-bodied with smooth tannins. A very polished Chorley-lès-Beaune with a sensual, persistent finish. Excellent. Drink: 2024 - 2033.

90-92 points Neal Martin, Vinous Nov 2023

Domaine Hugues Pavelot carries forward one of Savigny-lès-Beaune’s deeply rooted family traditions, with Hugues representing the next generation of a domaine long admired for quietly expressive Côte de Beaune wines. Les Beaumonts comes from Chorey-lès-Beaune, an often-overlooked village just north of Beaune that can deliver wonderfully charming red Burgundy without the grander appellations’ increasingly grand prices.

The 2022 vintage was generous and beautifully ripe, yet the best wines retained excellent freshness and aromatic lift. Chorey’s relatively gentle slopes and clay-limestone soils tend to produce supple, fruit-forward wines, and Les Beaumonts plays beautifully to that character. Pavelot’s measured approach keeps the wine lively and savoury rather than overly polished.

Bright ruby in the glass, the nose opens with red cherry, wild raspberry and cranberry alongside violet, dried thyme and a little orange peel. With air come hints of black tea, forest floor and gentle peppery spice. The palate is juicy and supple, with crunchy red fruit carried by fine tannins and lively acidity. Cherry skin, herbs and earthy notes gather through the middle before a fresh, mouthwatering finish.

This is wonderfully unfussy at the table: roast chicken with crispy skin, pork chops with Dijon mustard, mushroom and Gruyère tart, duck rillettes or a gloriously molten croque monsieur. Our pick is the pork chop — caramelised edges, mustard and pan juices against juicy, savoury Chorey is Burgundy doing comfort food extremely well.