Producer note: Hugues Pavelot noted that 2018 "gave us very high maturities and thus you had to choose your picking dates carefully. We began the harvest with our whites on the 28th of August and continued picking through to the 9th of September. As was the case in 2017, the fruit was about as clean as I have seen it. Yields were better than what we normally have, which is to say around 40 hl/ha for the pinot with good but not really high potential alcohols that ranged from 12.8 to 13.8%. I used a bit of whole clusters of between 15 to 30%, and I believe that this was helpful in preserving the freshness, which is critical in very warm vintages like 2018. A few wines had trouble finishing their sugars during the fermentations so I racked them into stainless steel tanks so that they could finish the remaining sugar before ultimately racking them into barrel. Overall, I like the 2018s quite a bit. They're certainly riper than the 2017s but equally interesting as they're generous, balanced and built-to-age."
Tasting note: A markedly spicy nose consists of dark currant, violet and earth nuances where a note of tea can be discerned. There is a lovely inner mouth perfume to the refined, velvety and caressing yet quite serious and tautly muscular flavors that also flash plenty of minerality on the powerful finish that exhibits excellent length.
