2022 Domaine Camus-Bruchon, Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru “Aux Gravains” Red Burgundy, France.
I am a huge fan of Camus-Bruchon and especially in recent years under Guillaume Camus, with the latest set of 2022s being exceptional, texturally silky, ripe and richly flavored and terroir driven old vine versions with this Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru “Aux Gravains”showing great already and having potential to age nicely for another decade or so. The color is deep garnet/ruby and the aromatics are pretty and a mix of dark florals, crushed berries, spice and sultry truffle notes that lead to a medium/full palate of black cherry, sweet and brambly raspberry, strawberry and orange fruit, along with rose hip tea, sassafras, earthy fig, saline, chalky stone and subtle baking spice. Like his father, Guillaume, of Domaine Camus-Bruchon, has a light touch and very much a winemaker that makes his wines in the vineyard, rather than in the cellar, everything he does is to showcase each vineyard site and produce transparent wines. He uses approximately 15% new oak in any given year, including in his top Premier Cru bottlings like this one, preferring to follow the Domaine’s tradition of crafting raw, balanced and graceful Pinots. The Camus-Bruchon wines see an extended maceration to fully extract the terroir and structure with about 18 days in total for the period of fermentation. The wines are all done with indigenous yeasts in old school concrete vats before being racked of to the French oak for over a year and then they are bottled unfined and unfiltered to capture every nuance and the full sense of place. All the vineyard sites farmed by the Camus family are dome using sustainable methods and with great respect for the lands and to promote healthy soils, these wines really showcase each site’s distinct micro climates and are really respectful of history of this region.
Guillaume Camus, who has now taken the helm from his dad Lucien, is one of the rising stars in the Côte de Beaune, and is making outstanding and elegant wines from vineyard holdings in in the Cote de Beaune, with many parcels in Premier Cru sites, especially in the Savigny-Les-Beaune, where this gorgeous Aux Gravains comes from, as well as nice pieces of Pommard and in the Beaune zone. The Camus-Bruchon vines are solidly mature and old, averaging at least 35 years, though as noted by importer Beaune Imports, they have some fabulous 95 year old vines too, like in their plot in the Grands Liards vineyard. The older Camus-Bruchon wines might have been a bit more chewy and meaty, a touch more rustic, but there is a long lineage of continuous quality and highlight the classic clay and limestone soils, these Burgundies are fine examples of wines grown in the vineyard, and as Guillaume says, he firmly believes that one can only make wine as good as the grapes that you grow and it is clear he spends much more time with his vines that he does in the cellar, as it should be, especially when you have the parcels at your disposal like he does. The Camus-Bruchon Savigny-Lès-Beaune 1er Crus are stunning values and this Aux Gravains is one to stock up on, but be sure to also keep an eye out for the Lieu-Dit, non Premier Cru, Aux Grands Liards Vieilles Vignes (old vine), it maybe one of the best Pinots for the price in all of Burgundy. As mentioned before, the Camus-Bruchon Burgundies, which I have been following and buying for many years have been superb dating back many vintages and remain savvy buys for the Burgundy enthusiast, they offer great terroir driven flavors and character at an insanely good price and they age fantastically well as I have found at trade tastings, when I have experienced 20 to 30 old bottles that showed almost no signs of their age.
($55 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive