A machine oil-like sweet, pungent smokiness and high-toned herbal notes great the nose from a glass of Pavelot's 2006 Savigny-les-Beaune Gravains, which comes to the palate with sappy red fruited intensity accompanied by a dusty impression of crushed stone, rosin, and shaved steel. This displays a cool sort of concentration and pure though modest ripeness, with an impressive degree of interactive complexity in its long finish. I would plan to enjoy it over the next half dozen years.
Hugues and Jean-Marc Pavelot – who began harvesting September 20 – approached the fruits of this vintage with caution and were in most instances very restrained in promoting fermentative extraction. The results are mixed, but in the best instances their approach has paid off in charming, youthfully satisfying wines.
Wassserman Selections (various importers), Le Serbet, Beaune; fax 011-33-3-80-24-29-70