Grands vins - Beaune - Savigny-les-Beaune

Beaune

Appellation from the famous medieval city of Beaune, popular tourist and cultural destination, enriched with Côte d'Or's trade in wine. It spreads over 320 ha and produces many excellent first growths like Clos des Mouches, Clos du Roi and Vigne de l'Enfant-Jésus, all worth just as much as any grand cru. They are a majority of quality red wines (98%) with a few confidential and remarkable white wines such as Joseph Drouhin's Clos des Mouches.

Main grape varieties : Pinot noir (98 %) for red wines ; chardonnay for white wines.

Soils : Thin brown soil, marls with traces of iron on a limestone base for vineyards at 200 to 300 m of altitude. Clay-limestone soils for lower slopes.

Style of wines :

Red wines : Powerful but elegant with a good tannic structure, intense aromas of red and black fruits. With age, notes of undergrowth, truffle and spices.

Savigny-Lès-Beaune

Appellation with 350 ha of vines, producing 17 000 hl of red and white wines with excellent value for money. Depending on the vineyard's location (alluvial cone, northern or southern slopes), the produced wines are all very different.

Main grape varieties : Pinot noir for red wines ; pinot blanc and chardonnay for white wines.

Soils : Clay-limestone on the alluvial cone and northern slopes ; sand and gravel on the southern slopes.

Style of wines :

Alluvial cone : beautiful suppleness and fruity aromas for these wines (mostly red), which soften with age.

Northern slopes : persistent aromas of red and black fruits for these colored and supple red wines.

Southern slopes : delightful, sharp and well-balanced. With supple tannins, they should be tasted sooner than their neighbors. The sweet white wines develop aromas of pineapple, banana and hawthorn flower.