Savigny-Les-Beaune 1er Cru "Les Lavières" rouge 2017

A Pinot Noir that opens round and full-bodied, only revealing its power with air. After about an hour in the glass it settles into a collected, balanced state. This is the style François de Nicolay calls "neo-classical": restrained on oak, precise in its fruit.

Savigny-lès-Beaune lies around six kilometres northwest of Beaune and, at 383 hectares, has one of the region's most extensive vineyard areas. The Les Lavières premier cru stretches towards Pernand-Vergelesses; Chandon de Briailles owns 2.61 hectares at the heart of this 17.66-hectare vineyard. The roughly 50-year-old vines face south-southeast and grow on sandstone, sand and marl, with iron-rich oolitic limestone above and crumbly reddish-brown limestone below.

Pure Pinot Noir. Claude de Nicolay has vinified without fining or filtration since 1988; whole-cluster fermentation has been standard since 2011, with the proportion varying by vintage. The red wines are aged for 14 to 20 months in barrel, with a maximum of 15 to 20 percent new oak, in a 12th-century vaulted cellar built by monks from the Abbey of Cîteaux.

Juicy and soft, slightly lactic, carried by sugared forest berries and ripe raspberries already promised on the nose, alongside damp forest floor, undergrowth, rose petals, violets and chalk. The acidity stays restrained; with air the wine becomes more powerful, fresher and more tannic.

Calf's liver and forest mushrooms on toasted bread with port reduction, ravioli with various game and porcini, or sautéed La Ratte potatoes with figs, porcini, chestnuts and wild rocket.

Demeter-certified since 2011, biodynamic. Almost 14 hectares are worked entirely with horses: Diva, Epi, Farandole and Gipsy plough the vine rows. One worker per hectare.