Description
Domaine Michel Ecard, Savigny-lès-Beaune “Vieilles Vignes”
Burgundy is constantly toying with my emotions. One minute I’m lamenting how expensive the wines are, the next I’m celebrating a knockout value like today’s Savigny-lès-Beaune from Michel Ecard. We probably offer more Burgundy than any other type of wine, which means we probably taste more Burgundy than any other type of wine, and it takes a lot of tasting to come across wines like this 2019.
But while Ecard’s “Vieilles Vignes” bottling is indeed extraordinary, I’m not exactly surprised: Both Savigny-lès-Beaune and its immediate neighbor, Pernand-Vergelesses, are extremely fertile hunting grounds for some of Burgundy’s best values, both red and white. These villages might have been overlooked a generation ago, but in today’s Burgundy, transcendent talent is lurking around every corner. Michel Ecard is a great example: Having learned alongside his father, Maurice (since retired), Michel launched his own domaine in 2005 and is as hands-on and quintessentially “Burgundian” as it gets—practically a one-man-show, in fact. This old-vine Pinot Noir is a taut, woodsy, high-energy expression of Savigny, very traditional and authentic in its styling. I’d be hard-pressed to remember a better red Burgundy value this year—seriously, jump on this!
Located south of Pernand-Vergelesses and across from the mighty hill of Corton, Savigny-lès-Beaune is one of those “next door” appellations we love so much at SommSelect. It is situated in such a way that it has a lot of vineyard area with a southern exposure, which favors the later-ripening Pinot Noir, making it one of the few villages/appellations in the Côte de Beaune with considerably more red wine production than white (90%-10%). Michel Ecard farms about five hectares of vineyards, all in Savigny-lès-Beaune, including parcels of four different Premier Crus. There’s no indication as to whether any of those sites are tapped for the “Vieilles Vignes” bottling, but the source vineyards are said to be between 50-60 years of age.
The way these old vines express themselves here is in depth and aromatic complexity rather than weight. The wine is taut and fine-grained, aged only in used barrels, and loaded with lots of underbrush notes. Fermented on ambient yeasts in stainless steel, it’s a translucent garnet-red moving to a pink rim, with an appealingly woodsy, spicy perfume: red and black cherry, wild strawberry, red plum, pekoe tea, warm spice, leather, smoke, and forest floor. It could almost be described as rustic, with terrific tension lending it persistence on the finish. For me, this wine just screams “Burgundy” and is going to make a fantastic partner to roast chicken, mushroom risotto, or even beef stew—and not just now but over the next 3-5 years. Yes, this modestly priced red will age, and likely quite well, so consider stocking up. You may be surprised at just how good it is. Cheers!
