Domaine Petitot Savigny-les-Beaune Les Pimentiers 2020

Tasted and loved by our staff, this Savigny-Lès-Beaune was made from very old complex vines by a husband & wife team, Hervé and Natalie Petitot, who work together seamlessly to produce beautiful, vibrant Burgundies. Hervé takes the lead in the vines, while Natalie, who like Hervé is a trained oenologist, manages the cellar. But the Petitots seem to balance each other in life as well. While both of them are warm, friendly people, Hervé’s drier more reserved sense of humor is a perfect counterpoint to Natalie’s vivacious and outgoing personality. This 'yin & yang' balance of the two makers carries through into their wines which are a fantastic blend of classic delicacy and powerful fruit expression.

Hervé’s parents, Jean and Michèle, bottled the estate’s first vintage in 1975. Although Petitots have been farming in Burgundy for five generations, before the Domaine was founded they primarily grew grains. Hervé began working at the estate with his father in 1990 and took over in 1994. The Petitot’s home and cellar is located in the town of Corgoloin, about 15 minutes from Beaune, centrally located amidst their parcels in the Cotes de Nuits and the Cotes du Beaune which total a mere 8 ha. They hold tiny parcels in Nuits-St-Georges “Les Poisets,” Aloxe-Corton 1er Cru “La Coutière,” Ladoix, Savigny-Les Beaune “Pimentiers,” and Pommard. But perhaps their most prized terroir is 0.5 ha of vines in Cote de Nuits Villages – “Les Vignottes.” This parcel of 80 year old pinot vines lies just across the Route Nationale from “Clos Maréchale,” one of the great vineyards of Nuits-St-Georges. Other than four lanes of traffic, the only thing separating the two terroirs is a slight drop off of elevation caused by an ancient fault line, and of course, a huge difference in price, making the Petitot's wine a remarkable bargain. 

In the vines the Petitots plow as frequently as possible to eliminate the need for herbicides, and they use no insecticides. Hervé and Natalie believe that a wine is “photography of the year” in which it was grown so all their work is focused on allowing the terroir and the quality of the vintage to shine through. But of course there is always the goal of making wines that give great pleasure and don’t require extensive aging. 

This delicious 2020 was made from 60+ year old vines (.17 ha) planted in east facing, ferruginous argilo-limestone and old alluvial soils at 230 meters elevation. All of the fruit is destemmed and the wine is fermented with indigenous yeasts followed by 3 days cold maceration and 15 day fermentation in cement tanks. The cap is punched down twice a day to start, then pumping over to activate yeast. Matured 1 year in oak barrel, 15% new oak, the rest in 1-5 year old barrels. The wine is fined but not filtered.