The 2016 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Guettes is limited to six barrels this vintage (fortunately, there are 17 in 2017, demonstrating how severely this vineyard was damaged by frost). It has a timid bouquet at first but eventually unfurls to reveal a mixture of red and black fruit—mulberry and crushed strawberry, a light marine influence developing with time. The palate is medium-bodied and underpinned by fine, almost filigree tannin. I appreciate the elegance of this Savigny that survived despite the frost damage, and there is plenty of vivacity and tension on the finish. Excellent.

The 2015 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Guettes has a very refined bouquet with perhaps more mineral expression than the Les Lavières, if not quite the degree of luxuriousness. The palate is very refined, the entry almost understated, but there is a crescendo of flavors as it fans out with black cherries, boysenberry and a pinch of spice towards the finish. Given the substance on display here, it would not surprise me if this gives drinking pleasure over 12-15 years.

The 2014 Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru les Guettes was showing just a touch of reduction on the nose when I tasted it at the domaine. The palate is fleshy and ripe, with grainy tannin cloaked in red and black berry fruit. The oak is showing just a little towards the finish, though that will be assimilated in time. It feels long and sustained in the mouth, and I suspect this will come into its own once in bottle.

The 2013 Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru les Guettes has a more expressive and fruit-driven bouquet than the other premier crus with blackberry mixed with sous-bois and orange rind scents. The palate is fresh and buoyant in the mouth, with a keen thread of acidity woven through the clean and crisp dark cherry and blueberry fruit. This, for me, is a step up from the les Peuillets this year and is worth looking out for - one of the domaine's best in 2013. Superb.

The 2012 Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru Aux Guettes has a refined, very feminine bouquet with laser-like precision, cut from the similar fine cloth as the Serpentieres. The palate errs towards the red fruit spectrum. The acidity is just perfectly judged lending this Savigny entrancing precision and focus. This is simply outstanding. Sometimes it can be a hindrance when wines are uniformly good. As I quipped to Hugues Pavelot, a writer prefers to use a sliding rule of adjectives rather than synonyms for “excellent”. But I had no other recourse tasting through a scintillating set of Savigny-les-Beaune wines from quite possibly the village’s finest producer. The harvest here commenced on September 20 with low yields hovering around 20-25 hectoliters per hectare, bunches fully de-stemmed. Furthermore, the domaine’s portfolio has been curtailed, as some parcels leased from their aunt in Pernand-Vergelesses have had to be relinquished. Their 2012s, which were taken directly from barrels that had just been racked, were surfeit with energy, vivacity, purity and terroir expression, to the point where I had to ask, what more could you want from such wines? Chapeau Hugues et Pierre-Yves Pavelot! Importer: Becky Wasserman Selection (various importers), Le Serbet, Beaune; fax 011-33-3-80-24-29-70