The Bize 2007 Savigny-les-Beaune Aux Vergelesses smells of damp bark and forest floor along with hints of things meaty and fruity that transform – on a lean but polished, strikingly seamless palate – into a vivid sense of beef juices and tart-skinned plum infused with invigorating salinity. There is decadent depth; head-scratching how-can-this-come-from-grapes carnality; and vintage-atypically bright fruit here, while a tactile note of pepper helps extend the wine’s long, sappy, multi-dimensional finish. Look for ten or a dozen years of satisfaction.
Patrick Bize’s 2008s did not finish their malos until they were one year old, a statistic only slightly less startling given the vintage than it would otherwise be. (By contrast – and again, not all that exceptionally for their vintage – the 2009s had, despite Bize’s notoriously cold cellars, already done malo by February … the February after harvest, that is!) This domaine has long and with good reason counted as one of its village’s top performers – if not number one – and while its collections in 2008 and 2007 do not approach the superb quality achieved here in 2005, young Bize wines – like the man himself – are lean, sinewy, frequently understated yet incisive, and have a habit of making fools of their critics. They often “come from behind” in ostensibly “l(fā)esser” vintages, and not only the 2008s here but also the surprisingly energetic, focused 2007s should prove fascinating and rewarding to follow over the coming decade.
A Becky Wassserman Selection (various importers), Le Serbet, Beaune; fax 011-33-3-80-24-29-70
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