Domaine Jean Marc & Hugues Pavelot Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru ‘La Dominode’ 2022

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

The name, La Dominode, comes from the latin Dominus – Master – and used to belong to the Lord of Savigny. It has earned a reputation for structured and relatively full bodied Pinot Noirs, displaying plentiful fruit characters alongside more earthy tones.

La Dominode is planted on sandy, marl soils that are made up from the area’s famous limestone. These qualities offer good drainage and low fertility, causing the vines to grow deep root systems. This results in high-quality, concentrated berries, which lead to intense, rich wine.

Two-thirds of the vines are between 70 and 80 years of age and the remaining vines are approximately 20+ years old

“Pavelot has been one of my go-to names in Savigny-lès-Beaune for several years now. They have consistently produced excellent Savignys despite the misfortune that the appellation has suffered in recent years.”

Neal Martin, Vinous

About Domaine Pavelot

The Domaine Pavelot, Savigny-Lès-Beaune, has been passed from father to son for many generations allowing the preservation of its quality and excellence. Jean-Marc really put the Domaine on the map in the 1980s and, assisted by his son Hugues, has been quietly producing excellent wines ever since, including six Premier Crus.

The wisdom such continuous ownership and experience with the land, vines and wines yields is often the difference between good and great!

Savigny-Lès-Beaune along with its neighboring villages Pernard-Vergelesses and Alox Corton have risen in prominence over the last couple of decades. We’ve seen heavy hitters from the Côte-de-Nuits acquiring vineyard holdings in the villages.

The Domaine consists of 13 hectares, with most of the vineyards in Savigny and small parcels in Aloxe Corton and Beaune. Their multiple parcels of vineyard in the Savigny Village Appellation offer varied terroirs, with different soils and exposures, adding complexity to the final wine. The Premier Cru sites are home to old vines of 85 years.

In the Vineyard

Domaine Pavelot take an adaptive approach to vineyard management, keeping a close eye on the vineyards throughout the year and responding to seasonal changes as they occur. Jean-Marc and Hugues embrace perennial agriculture to ensure their fruit is of the highest quality, including practices like sowing cover crops for green fertiliser, disbudding and restrictive pruning for yield control, and lutte raisonnée for pest management. Harvest is done manually once the fruit achieves good maturity, with an initial triage taking place in the vineyard.

In the Winery

Following harvest, the grapes are destemmed entirely for the Village appellation, as well as the vast majority of the premiers crus; depending on the vintage, grapes are partially destemmed for the 1er cru Dominode.

The fruit is transferred to vats and cooled to 12°C for a cold pre-fermentation maceration of 3 days. When the must returns to an ambient temperature, encouraging the gradual onset of fermentation. The wine completes its fermentation under temperature control and with regular punching down; this lasts an average of 15 days for the Savigny Village and 15 to 19 days for the 1er crus.

After settling for 24 to 48 hours, the new wine is transferred to barrels. It then spends 12 months in wood, without racking, and with little reliance on new oak – one-third for the Dominode but otherwise between 15 and 25% for the village and 1er cru wines. Hugues has not sought to change much of his father’s successful regimen, but if anything, there is a move towards a slightly longer but gentler treatment of the wine during fermentation.

The 2022 Vintage at Domaine Pavelot

Hugues Pavelot, who runs this expansive 17 ha domaine that is in the middle of a conversion to organic farming, told me that the 2022 vintage “produced fruit with good but not excessive maturities. We picked from the 29th of August and brought in spotless fruit with solid yields that were varied but averaged right at 40 hl/ha. In the same vein, potential alcohols were good but not high as they averaged about 13%. I used from 20 to 30% whole clusters for all of the 1ers except for the Guettes. Interestingly, and I don’t really know why as the potential alcohols were not especially high, but the primary fermentations took their sweet time to finish. As to the wines, I am very happy with the quality and in both colors. They’re elegant, balanced and offer excellent terroir transparency. I would take this combination of quality and quantity any time.” It’s not hard to understand why as Pavelot has again produced some excellent wines that are worthy of your interest, especially since they generally sell for attractive prices. The 2022 reds were bottled in February 2024 under natural cork 

Allen Meadows, Burghound

Where in the World is Domaine Pavelot

Domaine Pavelot is located in Savigny-Lès-Beaune in the Cote de Beaune. The Domaine consists of 13 hectares, with most of the vineyards in Savigny and small parcels in Aloxe Corton and Beaune.