All of the winemakers we work with in Burgundy are grower-producers, meaning they farm their own grapes and produce their own wine. But over the last few years of severely diminished yields, we’ve seen several winemakers add “négociant” operations, making additional wine with purchased grapes under another label. These cuvées often put winemaker skill on display, and such is the case with the wines of Caroline Letsimé.
Though we no longer offer Caroline Lestimé’s brilliant wines under her traditional Jean-Noël Gagnard label through our regular channels, we’re excited to have a few of her “négoce” cuvées in stock – both of this year’s show off Caroline’s technical cellar chops, and carry the signature glossy Gagnard character.
Caroline’s Savigny-les-Beaune is a bit out of left field, but trust us, you want some of this. No, it’s not really near Chassagne (it’s up a side valley west of the city of Beaune), and it’s the first Savigny in our cellar. But this wine is a tremendous value, and will delight any lover of white Burgundy.
The nose is bright and perfumy, with lemon, stones and faint herbs. The mouth shows beautiful sucrocité, with a sleek round texture that finishes vibrant and fresh. As with all of Caroline’s wines, the interplay of oak, fruit and earth is seamless. With its excellent freshness we expect this to drink well for a number of years.
Tasted blind we’d have placed it in St-Aubin or even Meursault. It’s easily the best Savigny-les-Beaune we’ve ever had, and will make any fan of the Gagnard style smile.
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Lestimé Savigny-les-Beaune blanc 2019
bottle price: $55
