From: Burgundy, France
Varietal: Chardonnay
Taste: Ginger-spiced apple and wet rock on the nose; one feels the mother rock's cool quality and a sunny element. Flint meets gingery yellow apple and mandarin orange citrus over a layer of rich, deep, penetrating aromas hinting at caramel apples, spice, and a long-lived minerality. These elements are harmonious from the start, with a subtle sweetness and complex minerality to its flavors of apple, spices, and fresh herbs. Still only peeking at its dimension, this wine tastes more finished, its palate more driven and focused than many of the 2020s we've had thus far. This long, tactile grand cru should give relatively early pleasure, but its finish speaks of longevity.
Pairing: I keep wanting to “go big or go home” for pairing suggestions, so I’ll get it out of the way now. Anything buttery. Creamy or cheesy sauces, lobster, seared scallops, crab, Epoisses. Lots of Epoisses. End scene. While those recommendations are excellent (I highly recommend trying a few of the above with good friends who also love wine and food), it can easily become over-the-top to your system to consume too much rich food and drink in one sitting. That said, I find it easier to enjoy foods with one rich element alongside a powerful white wine like this. You could play off the ginger element in this wine & lean into poultry dishes with ginger, lime, basil, or as a curry, but take care to watch the heat level (flavor is good, heat is not). Check out this Malaysian-Style Ginger-Chile Crab recipe by John Willoughby and Chris Schlesinger. You could also do something like this Toum Grilled Cheese recipe, where toum (garlic, lemon, salt) balances that luscious melty cheese. Serve alongside a simple, fresh salad with champagne vinaigrette and you’ll be in a great place in no time.
From an interview with Ola Bergman, 2020.
The six Savigny-lès-Beaune premier crus of Domaine Philippe & Arnaud Dubreuil look as if they have been placed there for educational purposes. Nicely lined up across the eastern part of Savigny-lès-Beaune, from one side to the other, from the bottom of the slope to the top, they illustrate the differences in character. Tasting the wines side by side will give you an idea of the impact of the variations in soil, exposure etc.
In terms of surface area Savigny-lès-Beaune is one of the major villages in the Côte d’Or. 358 hectares of vineyards in total. Like many other growers here Domaine Philippe & Arnaud Dubreuil has its vineyards in Savigny and the neighbouring villages. From 45 parcels in five villages – Beaune, Chorey-lès-Beaune, Aloxe-Corton, Ladoix-Serrigny and Savigny-lès-Beaune – Arnaud Dubreuil produces 15 wines.
– Growing up I wanted to become a horticulturist, a gardener, says Arnaud Dubreuil. As I grew older I found it more logical to take on the family domaine instead. I love working outdoors.
Domaine Philippe & Arnaud Dubreuil is a bit unusual in the sense that everything is sold directly to private customers. There is no export, no distributors or resellers. The only exception is a small portion of grapes sold to Bichot, the négociant, thanks to an old agreement.
– I took on the domaine in 2010, explains Arnaud Dubreuil. By then I had been working together with my father for ten years. My grandfather created the domaine in the 1950s. Then my father set up his own in the 1970s. When my grandfather retired my father brought together all the vineyards from the two domaines.
Since then Arnaud Dubreuil has added another two and a half hectares to the domaine, making the total surface area 12,5 hectares. 80 per cent of the production is red wine, the rest is white. Domaine Philippe & Arnaud Dubreuil also shares its past with another Savigny-lès-Beaune domaine, Domaine Simon Bize.
– Bize is an old family, says Arnaud Dubreuil. My grandmother was a Bize. Patrick Bize was my father’s cousin. In the past Domaine Dubreuil and Domaine Bize were the same domaine.
– The great grandparents Bize had vineyards. My grandmother got some of them and that was what my grandfather started out with. He originally came from a village in the plains, not far from Beaune.
The most recent addition to the domaine is the grand cru, the white Corton, Les Grandes Lolières, which you’ll find in Ladoix-Serrigny.
– 2018 was the first vintage for me with this wine, says Arnaud Dubreuil. It’s a parcel I’m familiar with, because it was a colleague of mine who had it before. He retired and decided to get rid of his vineyards, so I was able to take on this one. I’m familiar with the wine, but I haven’t worked the vineyard before.
In terms of winemaking he has started out with the Corton in a similar way to his white Savigny-lès-Beaune, with slightly more (25 per cent) new oak to it.