Favourites - Domaine Lucien Jacob, Echevronne

The vigneron here is Jean-Michel Jacob, son of Lucien who became well-known in the Côte d’Or for developing new strains of pinot noir well suited to the higher vineyards of the Hautes Côtes.  This maker was our first contact with Burgundy in 1995 when Mary visited them to set up Jon's 50th birthday present, a 'vineyard share' through 3D Wines.

Since then we have visited the Cave almost every year, and have got to know Jean-Michel and his wife Christine quite well.  The Hautes Côtes de Beaune red was where we began with them; since then we have enjoyed more exalted wines from their expanding production including Savigny les Beaune, Beaune, Gevrey Chambertin and Chambolle Musigny as well as excellent white chardonnay and aligoté and some of the best crème de cassis and crème de framboise in the Côte d'Or.

We have bought a lot of their wines - premiers crûs from Gevrey, Savigny and Beaune itself in the 15 years and this is gradually being opened and sampled in its maturity.  For more immediate drinking we often choose village wines from Savigny lès Beaune, which often show the difficulty and interest of the pinot noir grape on first tasting; Mary once said "if you were offered this without knowing it was wine you might not guess".

Each December they hold an open weekend, with between 20 and 40 wines on offer including those from Jean-Michel’s sister and brother-in-law's property, Domaine Forey, in Vosne Romanée.  Their basic wine is an excellent red Morey-Saint-Denis but they make others including Vosne Romanée and a superb Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru which we like too much!

Christine is originally English so it's a good place to visit if your French is not so good!  They also have a gîte to let in the village. 

Domaine Lucien Jacob, Echevronne, 21420 Savigny-les-Beaune  Phone 03 80 21 52 15.