2010 Pavelot Plus tasting

WINE TALK
1

We’ve all secretly loved Pavelot as a mainstay producer for years, and wondered what the new vintage held. One of the big advantages of Pavelot, aside from an affordable price, is that you get an array of terroirs to compare, all interesting, and all enjoyable. Most all wines double decanted 2-3 hrs before tasting. 1999 four hours before.

2010 Pavelot SLB Narbontons–Forward cherry fruit, bright, fresh, with nice tension and moderate underlying depth.

2010 Pavelot SLB Serpentiers–Darker wine, more restrained, huckleberry, mint, darker cherry. Nicely structured, and plenty of acid.

2010 Pavelot SLB Aux Gravains–A little sweeter, forward fruit, perfumed, a little easier, but perhaps a little simpler?

2010 Pavelot SLB La Daminode-- A big step up in ripeness, darker, more black cherry fruit. But softer, definitely lower acid feel, slightly ponderous in comparison to the other cuvees.

2010 Pavelot SLB Les Guettes–Just a perfect mixture of above. Great structure, bright, fresh, fine tannins red fruits with a touch of darker wild cherry, nice palate breadth. Clear winner of the five new cuvees.

2002 Pavelot SLB narbontons–Red fruit and cherry, with tomato note on the nose. Palate is sweet, mature, even a little soft. still quite nice.

2002 Pavelot SLB La Dominode–Darker fruit, black cherry, again soft, and a little finishing bitterness (oak?). Nice wine, but at the moment I vastly prefer 2001 and especially 1999.

2001 Pavelot SLB la dominode–Nicely structured complex wine with darker fruit, tobacco leaf, none of the softness of 2002. Enjoyable now but seems like another few years would leave a more impressive wine.

1999 Pavelot SLB La Dominode–this is just a gorgeous wine with deep black cherry nose and palate, richer than the above wines, great acid tannin balance. I donated my last bottle to the tasting and am bummed that I don’t really see anything on the secondary markets…

For those not in on the secret, these are real burgundies that respond beautifully to 8-15 years in the cellar. You can have them mostly for $35 per bottle, and the great thing is you can buy a range of terroirs to compare with pleasure in maturity, as pretty much all of the vineyards give an enjoyable wine.

For my own part, La dominode hs been a default purchase since 93 (I may have actually bought 85, but that is a too distant memory). the vintages from the 2000’s have made me wonder a bit. Some seem too ripe. Could it be that global warming is shifting the balance toward other vineyards (eg guettes)?

2

John,

Thank you for the very nice report. I have purchased La Dominode in various vintages and have only sampled the 02 thus far (quite young several years ago). I agree that this producer is quite excellent and will look for some 2010 bottlings after perusing your write-up.

Cheers,
Doug

3

Thanks for the detailed notes and thoughts. I haven’t opened any of the 2010’s that I bought but I might have to since your notes are tempting… A really great producer who consistently makes great wine. I buy his Dominode/Guettes to cellar and usually some of his other wines for early drinking, can’t beat the price! His new label I’m not sold on yet…

4

Guettes (along with Aux Fournaux) are two of my favourite SLB vineyards (and I may make some this year, we’ll see).

Yields are often minuscule up there, Bize only got a barrel from half a hectare this year and are lucky to get four or five in a good year!

5

Thanks for the impressions. Have only recently discovered Pavelot. I very much like them.

6

my credit card company thanks you too

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You can have them mostly for $35 per bottle,

Pavelots are approximately from CA $45 to CA $ 50 in Ontario and Quebec, Canada.

I love to compare Pavelot S-L-Beaunes 1er cru with Les Verg and Ile de Verg ( approxmiately 10-15% cheaper ) by producers such as Rollin and D-Fontaine, based in P-Verg. flirtysmile

8

Thanks for the note on the 2001 Dominode. I need to check in on the 2001 Gravain and Guettes soon.

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Agree, andrew. Just another reminder that this is a producer not to just get locked in to buying only the top scoring wine. Having the range availble to smple and compare is a lot of fun. I’m actually not sure that La dominode is their top wine anymore, although time will tell. there aren’t many producers where you can sample a wide range of vineyards within the same commune, and Savigny seems to be perfect for that (Bize offers that opportunity, and Barthod in Chambole, and prob some Beaune producers, although I don’t pay as much attention to Beaune, and of course, Chevillon in NSG).

10

Slight problem, due to difference in price, in Quebec, Canada any S-L-Beaune 1er cru by Bize is approx. 25 to 30% high than Pavelot.

For example Bize Aux Fourneaux 09 is CA $ 64 and Pavelot La Dominode 09 was at CA $50.

11

John - thanks for posting your impressions from the tasting. I’m sitting with the last glass of the '10 Pavelot Dominode now, which has drunk nicely all weekend long. It’s all black cherries and framed by a velvety texture. I’m a fan, but your note on the Guettes will have me perusing wine-searcher tonight.

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Rick–I’ve bought the Dominode for years, but this is a reminder to look at some of the other vineyards. For $35 per, you can get an array of interesting wines to enjoy and compare for years to come.

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Bize used to be right there with Pavelot price wise, but raised his prices in 09? 10? Still two delish Savignys that I buy regularly.
Oh no wait, crappy wines do not buy. Heed my advice and move on to the real burgs made by the cool kids from Vosne and Chambolle etc. Remember, more expensive is always better. [tease.gif]

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After your introduction of Bocquenet to me, I’m taking tour advice to heart flirtysmile

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The Guettes is a gem. Sadly, the price seems to be shooting up now. I got the last two bottles at $35 at Zachy’s. Most other places now charge $45 and up.

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Pries…I need to movee to New York city, USA !!

I seldom buy Vosne and Chambolles - they are not my cup of tea [wow.gif]

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Thanks for reporting on such a thoughtful tasting, John. I tried the 10 Dominode, Guettes, and Gravains near the end of last year and found virtues in each. For me, the Dominode was better-balanced than the others, though I also liked the rougher-hewn Guettes very much, and the Gravain hit me as relatively elegant, rather than simple. Guettes is an intersting vineyard; per Meadows, Pavelot’s 2010 Guettes yield was on the order of 20hl/ha.

Hereabouts, good Ile de Vergelesses usually runs a bit more than Pavelot’s wines, but enough consistently good press has been published now on Pavelot that his prices almost have to bump.

BTW, odd thing, I ordered 2010 Dominode from two different sources: one batch came with red capsules over the corks, the other with black capsules.

18

Ian…thanks for the info ( odd thing ).

The 2010 Dominode destined for Quebec, Canada is bottled with the new label and an explanation sheet - regarding their new label - inside each case.

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Cheers, Peter. My bottles all had the same (new) label; from one store they had red capsules, from the other, black capsules. Both reputable stores.

20

Thanks for your notes. I just grabbed some of the Dominode and Les Guettes from Woodland Hills.