| COTES-DE-BEAUNE Savigny-les Beaune The Lebreuil family estate in Savigny-les-Beaune dates back to 1935 when present winemaker Jean-Baptiste Lebreuil’s grandparents purchased two hectares of vines. Pierre, Jean-Baptiste’s father, enlarged the estate to seven hectares and acquired a bottling line to ensure that he would be able to bottle the majority of his production. After apprenticeships in Bordeaux and Australia, and a degree from the Lycée Viticole in Beaune, Jean-Baptiste joined his father in 1999. The Domaine became known officially as Pierre and J-B Lebreuil in 2001 and was further enlarged to its present size of 9.5 hectares, all based around Savigny-les-Beaune. Jean-Baptiste Lebreuil quickly made technical improvements in the cellars, installing new equipment to ensure perfect cellar hygiene (“primordial for the realization of great wines” he affirms). And in the vineyards, Lebreuil instituted stricter pruning to reduce yields and stopped the use of herbicides, replacing that practice with 5 plowings per year to remove grass and aerate the soils so as to encourage the roots to grow deeper. If the crop is deemed too large, Lebreuil green harvests at the time of veraison. In short, all measures are taken to ensure the harvesting of the finest quality fruit. Vinification and aging follow classic Burgundian practice as it is understood by today’s quality oriented winemakers. The whites are pressed with a pneumatic pressoir and begin their alcoholic fermentation in temperature controlled tanks. Fermentation is finished in casks, where the lees are stirred (battonage) every 15 days until the malolactic fermentation is completed. Bottling takes place in the late summer. The Pinot Noir grapes are transported to the winery in small plastic crates to protect the integrity of the fruit. After a full de-stemming, the grapes are given a cold maceration at 8 degrees centigrade with daily pumping over, to bring out the color and fruit aromas. The alcoholic fermentation lasts about 10 days, and very little press-wine is used. The wine is allowed to settle and clarify in the fermentation tanks and then it is transferred to barrels where it ages for 14-16 months. Lebreuil aims to produce vividly fruity Savigny-les-Beaune wines with great finesse and soft tannins. Beginning with the 2003 vintage, Jean-Baptiste Lebreuil introduced his Bourgogne Rouge. |
| Pierre et JB Lebreuil Website |
| Savigny-les-Beaune Blanc - Les Gollardes |
| Jean-Baptiste Lebreuil's lush-textured Savigny Blanc, a unique blend of 70% Chardonnay and 30% old-vine Pinot Blanc, offers bright, minerally fruit with citrus and wild-flower notes. |
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| Bourgogne Rouge |
| Jean-Baptiste Lebreuil’s Bourgogne Rouge comes from 40-year-old vines located in the upper part of the village of Savigny-les-Beaune, at an altitude of 350 meters. The vines are trained high to allow the grapes maximum exposure to the sun.
Lebreuil’s team hand-picks the grapes at optimum maturity and sorts them in the vineyard and again on a table de tri at the winery. The fruit is entirely de-stemmed and given an 8 day cold maceration period to enhance the wine’s color and aroma. Lebreuil then raises the temperature to 22 degrees C. to allow the alcoholic fermentation to begin naturally, without added yeast. The alcoholic fermentation lasts 7 days, with only one pumping over per day to avoid over-extraction and harsh tannins. Similarly, Lebreuil pressed the solids very lightly and then allowed the juice to clarify naturally in tanks for 2 days. In order to enhance the wine’s supple fruit, Lebreuil ages his Pinot Noir for 10 months in 1/3 oak casks (between 2 and 4 years) and 2/3 tank. It is bottled after a very light filtration. The wine offers abundant bright cherry and wild strawberry aromas and flavors, medium body, supple tannins and a long finish of minerally-defined fruit. It is one of the finest values in estate-bottled Pinot Noir from Burgundy in the marketplace. |
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| Savigny-les-Beaune Rouge |
| The Savigny Rouge has concentrated, dark cherry fruit in a ripe, yet very pure, elegant style. This Savigny-les-Beaune represents the essence of the estate's qualities. |
| Savigny-les Beaune - Les Grands Liards |
| The Savigny Grands Liards, from a “lieu-dit” parcel on the south east facing slope just beneath the 1er Crus, has more texture and grip than the AOC, with a darker shade of fruit and wonderful balance. There are many of the qualities of a 1er cru wine but at a village price. |
| Savigny - Serpentieres 1er Cru |
| Lebrueil’s 1er Cru Aux Serpentieres, located in the heart of the 1er Cru slope, is still more concentrated, with a stunning core of ripe, sumptuous fruit which requires a few years of aging. |
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| Savigny - Aux Peuillets 1er Cru |
| In early 2005, Jean-Baptiste obtained a small, 1/5 hectare parcel in the Savigny les Beaune Aux Peuillets vineyard. A retiring vigneron chose Jean-Baptiste to carry on the cultivation of these 40 year old vines. The Aux Peuillets is situated on the lower part of the Pommard-side slope. Its deep soil, and long-ripening (due to its north-east exposure) period, gives an intense, fleshy wine brimming with black cherry Pinot Noir fruit, which is very appealing when young. Lebreuil made just 125 cases in his first vintage of Aux Peuillets. Wine Spectator: “fine purity, grip and intensity. Black cherry, spice and mineral..sweet fruit to tame the tannins..with a long aftertaste.” |
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