Camus-Bruchon Savigny-les-Beaune Premier Cru Les Lavieres 2018

“The 2018 Savigny-les-Beaune Les Lavieres 1er Cru has a very refined bouquet of pure red cherries and crushed strawberry fruit, one of the most floral in this range of 2018s. The palate is well balanced with a tightly wound entry. There is a firm backbone to this Savigny, and a grippy finish, yet it delivers abundant freshness and elegance. It just needs time to knit together. Drinking window: 2024-2040. 91-93 points

Though I tasted Camus-Bruchon’s wines at the annual Burgfest tasting, I had not visited this producer located on the outskirts of Savigny-lès-Beaune until this year. Winemaker Guillaume Camus is a young and chatty vigneron, his family having made wine in Burgundy since 1734 (sadly not available for tasting, though he did crack open a couple of older bottles.) He explained how he farms nine hectares of vines that are tended lutte raisonée and organic, predominantly Pinot Noir. “I have a relaxed approach to the vineyard husbandry,” Camus explained. “I harvest entirely by hand, commencing the picking at 7.30am for the 2019 vintage. I used 30% whole bunches across the range and conducted a cold maceration for one week, using indigenous yeasts during the two to four week vatting. All the wines are matured in 20-25% new oak for 12 months. The 2018s were bottled in mid-December.” The splendid 2019 Savigny-lès-Beaune Les Lavières and Aux Gravains, not to mention the Pommard Clos les Arvelets, attest Guillaume Camus as being a winemaker who knows his way around a vineyard. I was impressed by what I tasted throughout both his bottled 2018s and 2019s. The wines conveyed a sense of classicism and are imbued with personalities respective to their individual terroirs. The Pommard Clos des Arvelets had an irresistible tang of freshly shucked oyster shells and it battled it out with a terroir-driven Savigny-lès-Beaune Aux Gravains for best in show. I look forward to returning.”

Neal Martin, Vinous (12/20)