Domaine Guilbert Gillet Savigny-Lès-Beaune Aux Petits Liards 2023 750ml

Vines planted in 1936 on a parcel prone to millerandage, and a grower who says he deliberately held back new oak in 2023 to keep the acidity alive.

Aux Petits Liards is a village lieu-dit of roughly 6.1 hectares on almost flat ground at 250 to 258 metres, with the premier cru Aux Gravains along its northern edge, according to the Oisy Wine Database. Guilbert's vines there stand on clay and were planted in 1936, hence the red overprint Vieilles Vignes on the label. The Japanese importer Finesse notes that the plot is prone to millerandage, the shot-berry condition that cuts yields, and that the cuvée has been raised in 100 percent new oak. For 2023 Guilbert told the Shizuoka merchant Matsukiya a different story: the summer was so hot that vines carried only four or five bunches, acidity came in a little lower and alcohol higher than in 2022, so he used as little new barrel as he could, aiming for fine-grained tannin, lively acidity and a wine that is not hard. No barrel figure for the 2023 Petits Liards has been published, so read the importer's 100 percent as the house habit, not a confirmed figure for this vintage.

Finesse's producer sheet, written while the estate was still assembling its holdings, filed Aux Petits Liards among the wines made from purchased grapes; the same parcel also fed the plain Savigny-lès-Beaune blend. The 2023 label reads Domaine Guilbert-Gillet, viticulteur à Savigny-lès-Beaune, and Matsukiya, visiting in May 2026, reported that from 2023 every wine except the Corton and the Morey-Saint-Denis carries the domaine designation. Benjamin Guilbert started in March 2020 with his partner René Gillet, a small cellar near the Dijon–Beaune road and 0.2 hectares; purchases in 2021 and 2022 brought the estate to 3.6 hectares, farmed organically and ploughed by horse and by hand. The reds are destemmed in full, fermented in stainless steel, kept eighteen months in barrel without racking, then bottled by hand from the cask with neither fining nor filtration; the label states vin non filtré and every bottle is numbered.

In the glass

Finesse describes ripe, sweet fruit on the nose, a smooth attack and charming fruit, with the acidity and tannin on the finish pointing to high potential. Vougeot.vin, on the 2023, found cherry, ripe red fruit and small berries with floral and spicy notes, concentration without weight, fine tannins and a freshness that gives length.

When to open

Vougeot.vin expects several years of development in the cellar; since Guilbert calls 2023 the approachable vintage, our suggestion is to drink from now to about 2033, at 15 to 16 degrees after a short decant.

At the table

Vougeot.vin suggests roast poultry, veal with mushrooms, a cut of beef or game birds.

Quick facts

Provenance

Sourced from the Japanese importer.

Sources: Domaine Guilbert-Gillet (label); Finesse (Japanese importer); Wine Cellar Matsukiya (2023 listing quoting Finesse and the producer; May 2026 visit report); Vougeot.vin; Oisy Wine Database; Wineholic; La Souveraine; Noisy wine (Tokyo)