Domaine Simon Bize, Savigny-lès-Beaune
Background
The ‘original’ Simon Bize was a butcher in the late 19th century and one of his bills was settled by the payment of four hectares of vines. Little did he know that little more than 100 years later, those four hectares would have evolved into one of the most respected domaines in the Côte de Beaune. Simon’s great grandson Patrick is now in charge, and although the emphasis of the Domaine has always been on red wines, in 2002 Guillaume Bott was employed to take care of the white wine making. Having worked previously with Gérard Boudot at Etienne Sauzet, he has brought with him a huge amount of experience.
Size: 22 hectare
This domaine is one of largest in the Cote de Beaune, and includes 1 Grand Cru and 5 1er Crus in red, and 1 grand Cru and 1 Premier Cru in white.
| Soil type: | mix of limestone, white marl and clay. |
| Vine age: | vines planted between 1938 and 1996. |
| Yields: | 25-40hl/ha for reds and 40-50hl/ha for whites. |
Viticultural and vinification methods
White wines are vinified in 1-5 year old barrels, and aged for 6-12 months, before being fined and filtered to retain their freshness and fruity characteristics.The proportion of new oak is 15%-30%. For red wines, the Domaine chooses to work with whole clusters of grapes, and only bunches from vines younger than 20 years are destemmed. Good phenolic ripeness is essential in order to obtain quality tannins, needed for extraction, and they still carry out the traditional pigeage so as to avoid excessive pressure, which can cause astringent tannins.
Red wines are aged in 1-6 year old barrels for one year, with very little or no new oak, in order to preserve the typical aromas of pinot. Wines are neither fined nor filtered.
Wines
Whites
Bourgogne Blanc ‘Les Perrieres’
Bourgogne Blanc Les Champlains
Savigny Les Beaune Blanc
Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru
Reds
Bourgogne Rouge ‘Les Perrieres’.
Savigny Les Beaune ‘Les Bourgeots’
Savigny Les Beaune ‘Aux Grands Liards’
Savigny Les Beaune 1er Cru Aux Vergelesses
Savigny Les Beaune 1er Cru ‘Les Fourneaux’
Savigny Les Beaune 1er Cru Les Marconnets
Aloxe Corton Le Suchot
