Henri de Villamont Savigny Les Beaune “Le Village” 2005

Today’s wine is from the Burgundy region of France and that means Pinot Noir. The problem with Burgundy is that it is so terribly fragmented that one could make you life study about Burgundy alone and still not be able to cover all the myriad of vineyards there. This stems primarily from what is known as Napoleonic Code. While the impact upon Burgundy is a result of the Law of Unintended Consequences coming into play, the Napoleonic Code is the basis for what is the French civil code and has impacted virtually the entire world.

Back before the institution of the Napoleonic Code in 1804, the vineyards of Burgundy were cut off from Paris because of distance over land, but with it’s seaports, was accessible to the entire world. The church played a major role in the region and indeed, many of the vineyards were owned by the church. When the Napoleonic Code was implemented, these vineyards were seized by the government and given into private hands. It was at this point where the complexities began to take shape because under the Napoleonic Code, estates were to be divided equally amongst any heirs and this continued through the generations. So what was a 120 acre vineyard back in the 1800’s may now be owned by as many as 80 people, each only owning several rows of grapes, but each entitled to use the name of the vineyard on their wine.

The bottom line with Burgundy wines is that because of this complexity you either have to be willing to experiment a lot or know someone that has experimented and is willing to share some info.  I wouldn’t call myself a Burgundy expert by any stretch of the imagination but I have done some poking around in the region. So when Ms Cocktail presented me with this wine for my blind I was reasonably certain that I had landed on to a Burgundy Pinot Noir, one that was really tasty to boot. It isn’t a terribly priced wine, you can find it for between $20-$25 locally and it is one well worth the effort to find.

Tasting Notes:

This is a clear, medium intense, ruby colored wine with legs. It has a clean, developing, medium intense nose displaying aromas of red cherry and oak. It has medium(+) acidity, medium alcohol, medium(+) tannin and a medium body. It has medium intense flavors of red cherry, moss and oak with a medium long finish. This is a good wine that is ready to drink now but will improve in the bottle.