Domaine Camus-Bruchon & Fils (Savigny-les-Beaune), 2022 from cask and tank samples and some 2021s from Bottle

Savigny-les-Beaune from top producers provides some of the best values in both red and white (which is quite rare, though) Burgundy. Among those in the top tier of Savigny, Camus-Bruchon is less well-known than it should be, and its wines are worth your making an effort to find.

Guillaume Camus in his cellar.

Guillaume Camus said that he began the 2022 harvest on 28 August. Alcohols are 13-13.5.% He performed very little sorting (triage) — the grapes were healthy and much of the problematic bunches had been eliminated during earlier work in the vineyards. As is usual here, 30% whole clusters in the wines. Malo-lactic fermentations were quick, except for a couple of wines that usually are later and that that dragged out to December to March. He characterized it as a rather rich vintage. The Savigny blanc, Chorey-les-Beaune, and Savigny villages will soon be bottled, the others before end of Feb.

2022 Savigny-les-Beaune blanc

All Chardonnay in this wine (Pinot Blanc is also not uncommon in Savigny). The wine was filtered last week. Pure, medium-weight, nice energy, vanilla and apple. Drinks well now. (None made in 2021). 30% new wood. (89-91)

2022 Bourgogne Pinot Noir

All raised in wood, but not all yet racked (this is a mixture of the racked and unracked portions). Smooth, moderate acidity. Beautiful red cherry and red currant fruit. Should be excellent for early drinking; it is charming and elegant. This was declared as Bourgogne Côte d’Or, but Guillaume has not yet decided whether he will label it as such or just Bourgogne Pinot Noir. (86-88)

2022 Chorey-les-Beaune  

Filtered last Monday. Half of this wine was raised in 500-liter casks, half in the in traditional barrique of 228 liters. 20% new wood, but it was all for large casks, and so the effect of the new wood is somewhat less. Ripe, forward, red cherry, medium-light, round tannins. (87-90)

2022 Savigny-les-Beaune   Reine Jolie

Racked last week. 25% new wood. Richer than the Chorey but still elegant, more complexity to the fruit — red cherries some strawberry. Will need a few yeas but very good potential.  Mostly old vines here. (88-90)

From here on, the wines, especially the Savignys, are of extremely high quality for their appellations and should provide excellent values.

2022 Savigny-les-Beaune   Les Pimentiers

Not filtered, in tank less than a week. The vineyard was planted in 1929. Dark fruits, deep, intense, but elegant. Round tannins — easy to drink. Good freshness, long finish. Always one of the top village Savigny. (90-92)

2022 Savigny-les-Beaune   Aux Grands Liards

Racked this week. Somewhat more limestone in soil here, as a result, this wine is more linear and has longer development in the mouth. The tannins are round, dark and red fruits. More finesse, completeness here. (90-93)

2022 Savigny-les-Beaune   1er Cru   Lavières

Floral nose. Civilized in mouth, red and dark fruits, a bit of spice, good density, although still elegant. Long in mouth, good complexity. 30% new wood. Good balance. (91-94)

2022 Savigny-les-Beaune   1er Cru  Gravains

Mineral, dark fruits, more tightly-knit than the previous wines. Long, balanced, again civilized — this isn’t a vintage for wild Savigny fruit. Medium-light body. A bit of hardness to tannins, but not a lot.  (91-94)

2022 Savigny-les-Beaune   1er Cru  Narbantons

Earthy Narbantons nose. Dense, more volume than previous wines, dark fruits, still with finesse of the vintage. Classic differentiation between the two slopes, this wine coming from the southern slope, the others from the northern slope.  (91-94)

2022 Beaune 1er Cru  Clos du Roi

Racked fairly recently. Very hot year for Clos du Roi — there’s always fear if drought here. Cassis leaf aroma from reduction. Cassis in mouth, good intensity. Medium-light, smooth, good finesse, not a plodding wine which one finds in some other Clos du Rois. 30% new wood. Good linearity in mouth. Less than half the vines aer about 40 years-old, the rest almost 80. Probably a wine for mid-term. Good intensity and depth. (91-93)

2022 Pommard   1er Cru   Clos des Arvelets

Harder tannins than the Beaune, but not really that hard compared to other vintages; Nevertheless, in this cellar, the wine clearly shows a Pommard structure — but superimposed on the finesse of the vintage. 30% new wood. Reddish fruits. (91-93)

We finished the visit with a tasting of three 2021s from bottle. In red, Guillaume had 10-30 hl/ha, depending upon the vineyard; no white was made. There was some chaptalization 1,0-1,5%, the same as in 2022. 2021 was very cool in 2021 except in June, when it was hot during the flowering.

Bottled 2021s in January.

2021 Savigny-les-Beaune    Pimentiers

30% whole clusters, as is usual for all the wines. This is a very different style of vintage from the 2022 — not the generosity, sensuality of 2022, much stricter, but the fruit is there, along with tannin and acidity. Needs a few years, but should round out. Good length in mouth, reddish fruits. Good nervosity. 90(+)/A

2021 Savigny-les-Beaune   1er Cru   Gravains

Floral, mineral nose, but much less expansive than the 2022 Gravains. Mineral dark fruits in the mouth, medium-light, good energy, intensity, tannins less hard than the Pimentiers, but clearly harder than the 2022 Gravains. Finesse, lightness on palate. Ideally, give this a minimum of 6-8 years in the cellar, although it can be drunk now.  91+/A-

2021 Beaune   1er Cru   Clos du Roi

The breadth from the terroir works here against the less generous nature of the vintage. Expressive dark fruit (plum), finesse, freshness, good intensity and depth. A real success — harmony and frehsness. 93/A