Savigny-Lès-Beaune 1er Cru “Les Marconnets” Reviews

A rich style, featuring luscious black cherry, blackberry and violet flavors. Soft and enticing, with fine balance and dark fruit echoing on the finish, along with sweet spices. Drink now through 2035. - Bruce Sanderson

Silky and loaded with black cherry, black currant and wet earth flavors. Delivers dusty tannins along with tar and iron accents. Compact, yet it lingers nicely on the finish. Best from 2025 through 2043. 169 cases made, 24 cases imported. — BS

Silky and loaded with black cherry, black currant and wet earth flavors. Delivers dusty tannins along with tar and iron accents. Compact, yet it lingers nicely on the finish. Best from 2025 through 2043. —B.S.

Translucent and powerful yet also weightless, the 2012 Savigny-lès-Beaune Les Marconnets captures the essence of what makes Pinot Noir and Burgundy so compelling. Smoke, tar and menthol appear first, followed by intense dark red and blackish fruit. Ferrou

When we dig a well for water, we mimic the action of a vine, which may be why a wine like this recalls the depths of a well in its rooty, wild mushroom and earth scents. That scent is atavistic, or, as one taster suggested, animalistic; wild and gamey, in any case. Its fruit has a clover honey edge, riding between cleanness and the hayloft above a stable. A Burgundy to bring out your own inner animal.

The 2010 Savigny-Les-Beaune Les Marconnets presents a dark profile of black cherries, plums, smoke and licorice, all in a deep, sensual style that is more than a little bit unusual for the appellation. This is an especially rich, big Savigny informed by the high percentage of shot berries that have given the wine its intensity and deep color, but it all works, and beautifully. It will be interesting to see how this develops over the next few years. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2020. This is stunning set of wines from Pierre Vincent and Domaine de la Vougeraie. It is impossible to miss the attention to detail at this impeccably run domaine. No expense is spared. It takes 80 people to work the vineyards during harvest and another 20 in the cellar to take it from there. Production in 2010 was of course down significantly as it was everywhere else. Yields came in at 24 hectoliters per hectare for the Pinot and 29 for the Chardonnay. Vincent used between 30-80% whole bunches, depending on the wine. Readers who want to learn more might want to check out my video interview with Pierre Vincent on www.erobertparker.com. I will report on the domaine’s 2009s in the April issue. For now let me just say the 2009 Musigny is one of the wines of the vintage.

Deep ruby. A completely different aromatic profile is present with a pungently earth character to the ripe red and blue pinot fruit, plum and cassis suffused nose. The attractively textured, supple and solidly well-concentrated flavors possess excellent finishing depth and length. I like the balance and this is sufficiently forward that it will drink well almost immediately if desired.