Savigny, Corton & Beaune

Here the Côte de Beaune is cut by valleys. The Rhoin comes out of the hills at Savigny and splits the village's vines into two slopes that face each other across it. Just to the north, the hill of Corton stands almost on its own, ringed by combes: a collar of pale Pernand marl near the top, where Corton-Charlemagne grows, and lower down a band of Ladoix limestone, the flaggy stone that was split into laves for Burgundy's flat roofs. South of Savigny, Beaune's slope runs four kilometres with only four dry combes to break it, and its lowest premiers crus come down to about 220 m, lower than any others on the Côte.

Hugues Pavelot farms both sides of the Rhoin. Four of his premiers crus face south on the Pernand side: Aux Guettes high behind the village on 20 to 30 cm of soil over rock, Aux Serpentières mid-slope on deep marl with angular stones, Aux Gravains on the gravel a side valley, the Combe d'Orange, spread at the foot, and Les Lavières on clay over the flat laves it is named for. Across the valley La Dominode faces north-east on sand and clay, and Les Peuillets faces south-east on red soil and pebbles, with so little clay, Hugues says, that “there are no reserves.” Under Corton, Nicolas Rossignol's Fichots and Vincent Bouzereau's walled Fiètres both grow on iron-red ground. In Beaune the soil runs from shallow, rocky scree at the top of Les Bressandes to deep clay in Les Pertuisots and small dark stones at the foot, in Les Reversées.

Tap any two to compare them and cut a slice between them. Premiers and grands crus are placed at the centre of their INAO outline and village lieux-dits at the centre of the BIVB's map; Les Planchots is split in two on that map, so its pin is approximate.