The Lebreuil family estate in Savigny-les-Beaune dates back to 1935, when present winemaker Jean-Baptiste Lebreuil’s grandparents purchased two hectares of vines. Pierre, Jean-Baptiste’s father, enlarged the estate to seven hectares and acquired a bottling line to ensure that he would be able to bottle the majority of his production. After stages in Bordeaux and abroad, and a degree from the Lycee Viticole in Beaune, Jean-Baptiste joined his father in 1999. The Domaine became known officially as Pierre and J-B Lebreuil in 2001 and was further enlarged to its present size of 9.5 hectares, all based around Savigny-les-Beaune. This is a domaine to watch!

Jean-Baptiste Lebreuil quickly made technical improvements in the cellars, installing new equipment to ensure perfect cellar hygiene (“primordial for the realization of great wines” he affirms). And in the vineyards, Lebreuil instituted stricter pruning to reduce yields and stopped the use of herbicides, replacing that practice with 5 plowings per year to remove grass and aerate the soils so as to encourage the roots to grow deeper. If the crop is deemed too large, Lebreuil green harvests at the time of veraison. In short, all measures are taken to ensure the harvesting of the finest quality fruit. 

Jean-Baptiste Lebreuil aims to produce vividly fruity Savigny-les-Beaune wines with great finesse and soft tannins. Vinification and aging follow classic Burgundian practice as it is understood by today’s quality-oriented winemakers. The whites are pressed with a pneumatic pressoir and begin their alcoholic fermentation in temperature-controlled tanks. Fermentation is finished in casks, where the lees are stirred (battonage) every 15 days until the malolactic fermentation is completed. Bottling takes place in the late summer. The Pinot Noir grapes are transported to the winery in small plastic crates to protect the integrity of the fruit. After a full de-stemming, the grapes are given a cold maceration at 8 degrees centigrade with daily pumping over, to bring out the color and fruit aromas. The alcoholic fermentation lasts about 10 days, and very little press-wine is used. The wine is allowed to settle and clarify in the fermentation tanks and then it is transferred to barrels where it ages for 14-16 months. 

Lebreuil’s Savigny Les Beaune Blanc Dessus Des Gollardes offers bright, minerally fruit with citrus and wild-flower notes. It is a blend of 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Blanc, the latter coming from 55-year-old vines. Both varietals are harvested and vinified together. Lebreuil matures his Savigny Blanc in barrels: 15% new, 25% one-year; 30% two-year and 30% three-year-old casks. He prefers this mix to ensure that the wine’s exuberant fruit is not overpowered or muted. Lebreuil’s Savigny Blanc is an original and compelling expression of white Burgundy. Only 400 cases are produced. 

Jean-Bapriste Lebreuil’s Bourgogne Rouge comes from 40-year-old vines located in the upper part of the village of Savigny, at an altitude of 350 meters. The vines are trained high to give the grapes maximum exposure to the sun, and harvesting is done by hand. It is vinified in the same manner as the other reds but is 50% aged in barrels and 50% in tank for only 10 months to ensure its fruity and accessible qualities.

The Savigny Les Beaune Rouge has concentrated dark cherry fruit in a very pure, elegant style.  It comes from many parcels with differing characteristics, mostly on lower slopes at about 200 meters of altitude.  Lebreuil blends these different origins to craft his Savigny Rouge in the supple and silky style he seeks. The Savigny Les Beaune Les Grands Liards, from a “lieu-dit” parcel  of just over one-half a hectare in size. With 44 year old vines on the south-east facing slope just beneath the 1er Crus,the Grands Liards has more texture and grip than the AOC, with a darker shade of fruit and wonderful balance. Both of the villages Savigny wines are aged in oak casks that are 15% new; 30% one-year; 30% two-year; 25% three years old. 

Lebrueil’s Savigny Les Beaune 1er Cru Aux Serpentieres, located in the heart of the south-facing 1er Cru slope, is on pure limestone-clay soil. Most of the vines in the Lebreuil parcel were planted by Jean-Baptiste's great-grandfather, Paul, in the 1930s, making them an average of 70 years of age! These ancient vines help to explain why the Serpentieres is Lebreuil’s most concentrated and structured wine, with a stunning core of ripe, sumptuous fruit. It requires a few years of aging. In early 2005, Jean-Baptiste obtained a one-fifth of a hectare parcel in the Savigny Les Beaune 1er Cru Aux Peuillets vineyard. A retiring vigneron chose Jean-Baptiste to carry on the cultivation of these 40 year old vines. The Aux Peuillets is situated on the lower part of  the Pommard-side slope. Its deep soil, and long-ripening period (due to its north-east exposure), gives an intense, fleshy wine brimming with black cherry Pinot Noir fruit, which is very appealing when young. Lebreuil made 125 cases in his first vintage of Aux Peuillets. Both 1er Crus are aged in barrels that are 25% each new, 1 year, 2 years and three years old.