Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
I'd love to slip this amazing wine, sourced from three steep parcels on white clay soils, into a blind tasting of some Côte de Beaune grands crus, because it wouldn't be outclassed. With modish struck-match aromas, this is a textured, refreshing, mineral-edged wine with understated 10% new wood, vivid acidity and flavours of oyster shell and citrus peel. The sort of wine you want to tell your friends about.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
As I suspected, the 2017 Santenay 1er Cru Le Beaurepaire has indeed gained in tension since I tasted it at the end of last year, and today, the wine is showing brilliantly. Offering up notes of green pear, iodine, lemon oil and wheat toast, it's medium to full-bodied, ample and layered, with excellent concentration and mid-palate volume, tangy acids and a precise, saline finish.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
In the far southern end of the Côte de Beaune, Santenay forms a little notch that juts into the otherwise straight border with Côte Chalonnaise.
Santenay red wines show the true essence of red Burgundy at good price points and without demanding a lot of cellar time. Enticing aromas of rose-petal, violet, red fruits and licorice lead to sturdiness on the palate. With soils rich in oolitic limestone and marl, this is the home of well-constructed, hearty Pinot noir and represents a fantastic region to explore if you are just beginning your understanding of red Burgundy.
Reputable vineyards of Santenay include La Maladière, as well as the Premier Crus of La Comme, Clos de Tavannes, and Les Gravières.