Description
This is a stellar Red Burgundy from the Santenay appellation in the south of the Cote de Beaune in Burgundy, and specifically the Gravieres Premier Cru. It’s from the 2022 vintage, which was extremely good in Burgundy, albeit very warm. It’s a sign of Girardin’s high quality that this wine is, while packed with ripe fruit flavour, so elegant in style, with impeccable balance. While Santenay is not as well-known as, say, Meursault or Volnay further north in the Cote de Beaune, it offers poised, polished fine wines with excellent quality potential. This is a great example!
TASTING NOTE: An attractive medium ruby colour. On the nose: This wine is complex, with intense red fruits, wild berries, sour cherry and cranberry, with spice and liquorice aromas too. On the palate: there’s a lovely concentration of red and dark cherry flavours accompanied by delicate notes of herbs and minerality, and a slight earthiness. It is an elegant, polished style of wine with fine-grained tannins and lively acidity to provide freshness alongside the deliciously ripe red fruit, and balanced alcohol of 13.5%.
PAIRING & SERVING IDEAS: This wine pairs well with confit duck leg and gratin dauphinois or lamb stew with vegetables. Alternatively, try this Santenay with slow-roasted aubergine or lentil stews with tomato and spice. With the region full of great produce, a local cheese such as Epoisses, a classic Burgundy pairing to match the wine’s earthiness. We recommend this wine to be served at 16-18 degrees C. It has started to drink well now with decanting, but will cellar well till 2030 if not a little longer.
ABOUT: Girardin was founded in 1980 when Vincent Girardin was just shy of 19 years old. Coming from a Santenay winemaking family dating back to the 17th century, he grew up surrounded by vineyards, and knew a thing or two about wine! The estate grew rapidly, building long-standing partnerships with growers who shared the same philosophy across 11 Cote de Beaune villages, from Meursault to Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet, Volnay, Santenay and more. Since 2012, winemaker Erin Germain has focussed on wines of aromatic purity, elegant balance and terroir, using sustainable farming practices and biodynamics, such as cultivating with no chemical herbicides or insecticides, and the use of natural composts and herbal teas for nutrients, whilst following the lunar calendar. The results are impressive, with the wines offering classic Burgundy weight and structure with elegance and pure, fine fruit flavours.
