Savigny-Les-Beaune 1er Cru "Les Lavières" rouge Sans Sulfites Ajouté AOC 2021

A Pinot Noir of slender build and clear contours, dry, at 12.5% Vol. François de Nicolay calls the house style neo-classical: restrained in oak, precise in fruit, with ageing potential spanning decades. This premier cru shows this through pristine red fruit and cool minerality, without cosmetic polish.

Les Lavières is a premier cru vineyard in Savigny-lès-Beaune, on the limestone-rich soils of the Côte de Beaune. The estate farms 13.7 hectares across twelve plots in Savigny-lès-Beaune, Pernand-Vergelesses and Aloxe-Corton. Ploughing is done with four horses: Diva, Epi, Farandole and Gipsy. In 1989 Nadine de Nicolay banished all synthetic products from the vineyards; her children François and Claude converted to biodynamics in 2005, and the estate has held Demeter certification since 2011.

100 percent Pinot Noir, fermented as whole clusters, standard practice at the estate since 2011, with the proportion varying by vintage. Claude de Nicolay, cellar master since 1988, works without fining and without filtration, and since 2017, for selected cuvées such as this one, also without added sulfur. The red wines age 14 to 20 months in barrel with at most 15 to 20 percent new oak, in the 12th-century Cistercian vaulted cellar built by monks of the Abbey of Cîteaux.

Silky texture, carried by vibrant acidity and delicate tannins. Wild raspberry and red forest berries, alongside floral notes and a cool, earthy minerality. The finish remains slender and clear.

With rosé-roasted saddle of venison, pheasant breast, or braised guinea fowl leg. Also with mushroom risotto with autumn truffles and aged Comté.

Sans Sulfites Ajouté means bottled without added sulfur. It is also unfiltered, unfined, and grown under Demeter-certified biodynamic viticulture. The de Nicolay family has run the estate since 1834 and maintains a ratio of one worker per hectare.