2020 Domaine Philippe et Arnaud Dubreuil Savigny Les Beaune 750 ml

50-year old vines. Hand-harvesting into small 25kg bins to avoid crushing bunches. A commitment to reaching the highest level of sustainability you can achieve in France.

Today’s wine is a one-bottle argument showing why Jay McInerney praised Savigny-les-Beaune’s Pinots in The Wall Street Journal.

Philippe and Arnaud Dubreuil’s 2020 Savigny-les-Beaune has it all. It’s from a warm, ripe vintage that Wine Advocate rated 95 and called “striking wines, built for the ages, and in a few years, collectors will be wishing they’d maxed out on the 2020 vintage, just like they’re pining for more ‘05s and ‘15s right now.

The 2020 vintage in the Côte d’Or was the warmest of the new century. The drought conditions of the year led to yields that were 20–40% lower than usual. These factors all but guaranteed gorgeous fruit in a cooler village like Savigny. We already know that the Dubreuils’ fruit was perfect because they hand-sort in both the field and cellar, and they made this wine with 75% whole clusters. As our wine team marveled at this wine, one noted: “You need healthy clusters in order to do that!”

This is a third-generation family estate started in the 1940s, and today the Dubreuils farm sustainably, avoiding all pesticides and herbicides. They’re HVE Level-2 certified, well on their way to Level 3, the highest designation. Their 2020 Savigny is a shining example of the appellation, brimming with bright red cherries, red plums, and smashed raspberries intertwined with black tea, damp earth, a kiss of licorice, and plenty of wild herbs.