2013 Savigny Les Beaune Les Serpentieres

The 2013 Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru les Serpentières has an earthy, inward-looking bouquet with subtle forest floor and wild mushroom scents infusing the black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with light tensile tannins. This is nicely balanced, although it is missing some depth and matière toward the finish. Drink this over the next 6-8 years. ||Readers will be aware that along with Domaine Simon Bize, I rate Jean-Marc Pavelot as the finest Savigny-les-Beaune based grower. That said, I do feel that the challenges of the 2013 growing season did compromise quality on some of the crus this year, and this was highlighted by the exceptions that served as pertinent reminders of what they can achieve. They faced the same travails as other growers during the year, their Savigny les Lavières virtually wiped out by the hail, thus blended with the Village Cru. They picked October 3-10 at around 25 hectoliters per hectare for the Savigny premier crus and the malolactics finished around the following July. One of the standouts is their Savigny-les-Beaune les Guettes that seemed to shrug off the vintage in its stride. eRobertParker.com.December, 2014