2022 Jean Marc Pavelot
There are producers, and then there are finds — growers whose wines deliver a quality-to-price ratio so lopsided in the buyer's favor that once you discover them, you start buying them every year. Jean Marc Pavelot is exactly that kind of find. I first encountered his wines in the late 1990s, and what struck me immediately was how much wine you got for so little money. Here was Savigny-lès-Beaune offering genuine depth and complexity, rivaling far more expensive wines from the Côte de Nuits. Pavelot is one of those rare producers who, with a little patience, consistently rewards collectors with top-tier Burgundy at a price point the market has simply never caught up with. Over the years I've brought you some incredible deals from Pavelot, but today's offer is something else entirely, a selection of wines I'm able to offer at nearly 20% below what I charged just a few years ago on release.
Which is what makes this so exciting. A supplier recently approached me with a parcel of 2022 Jean Marc Pavelot, and I'll be honest, the quantity surprised me. Wines like this don't tend to sit around, and that's especially true of the 2022 vintage, which we have long been sold out of. 2022 was a year marked by beautifully ripe fruit, exceptional depth, and impressive structure. In my experience, the more rustic terroirs tend to shine in riper vintages, and Pavelot's 2022s are a perfect illustration of that. These rank among the finest wines produced at this address dating back to the early 2000s.
If there's one thing I want to stress, after 25-plus years of not only drinking these wines but cellaring them, it's this: they reward patience. If you can keep your hands off them, they evolve in ways that will make you genuinely glad you bought them, and almost certainly wishing you had bought more. At prices nearly 20% below their original release, with a vintage this strong and a producer this consistent, the calculus here is simple. Buy as much as your cellar will allow. You won't regret it.
A classic pinot nose is comprised by pretty and lightly spiced red berry scents while the supple and delicious flavors reveal soil tones that carry over to the lightly austere, complex and lingering finish. This refreshing effort could be enjoyed upon release or cellared for 2 to 4 years first.
- Burghound - Outstanding Top Value
A more elegant and spicier nose combines notes of poached plum, black cherry and pretty floral elements. There is a bit more refinement to the attractively vibrant and delineated middleweight flavors that also flash evident minerality on the lingering finish that is sufficiently structured to repay a decade plus of keeping. This isn't as dense as the Guettes but there's more finesse.
- Burghound, 92 Sweet Spot Outstanding 💜
Discreet but still easily perceptible wood sets off gamy aromas of forest floor, humus and ripe dark berries. The sleeker though not denser medium-bodied flavors flash even more evident minerality on the more austere but equally long, structured and quite serious finale. As is always the case with this wine, it doesn't, and won't, play well young so it's pretty much a no compromise wine, e.g., age it or don't buy it.
- Burghound, 91 Outstanding!
This too is really quite aromatically pretty with its airy if slightly riper and more floral-suffused mix of black raspberry, cherry, poached plum and warm earth that are trimmed in enough oak influence to mention. The super-sleek and almost painfully intense flavors possess fine length on the tautly muscular, firm and austere finish that is like rolling tiny rocks around the mouth. This is first-rate and a wine that should richly reward extended keeping
- Burghound, 93 Sweet Spot Outstanding! 💜
The 2022 Savigny-ls-Beaune Aux Gravins ler Cru has an altogether different nose to the Les Lavires: more sultry and backward, yet similarly compelling, tobacco leaf and autumn bonfire scents percolating through the red fruit. The medium-bodied palate has a fluid entry, caressing with pliant, saturated tannins and a keen thread of acidity. The very pure finish has the sapidity to beckon you back for more. Lovely.
- Vinous Media, 92-94
This is at once the spiciest and the most floral-suffused nose in the range with its ripe yet ultra-fresh nose of various dark berries, anise and newly turned earth scents. The mouthfeel is also intriguing as it combines excellent density with an appealing sleekness that carries over to the mineral-driven, powerful and compact finale that is wonderfully persistent if very clearly built-to-age. This is almost always Pavelot's best wine and it is highly likely to be so in 2022 as well.
- Burghound, 94 Sweet Spot Outstanding! 💜
