Santenay 'Les Champs Claude', Domaine Benoit Girardin, 2023
Santenay 'Les Champs Claude', Domaine Benoit Girardin, 2023
- 75cl
- 14%
- White Still
- Chardonnay
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Optimal drinking window: 2026 - 2032
Son of Yves and nephew of Vincent, Benoit Girardin has steadily carved out his own reputation and is already turning heads in the Parisian restaurant scene. 2023 was a standout vintage for Girardin, delivering both quantity and quality.
"From a young-vine parcel first produced in 2020, this Santenay is fresh and precise. The nose offers floral notes with bursts of lime and grapefruit. The interplay of clay soils at the bottom and limestone at the top gives the wine a pleasant minerality and energy, complemented by a clean, lime-tinged finish."
Our note
While white yields were typical, the reds saw an unprecedented abundance. The whites were harvested first, beginning on September 7th, with the reds following on September 10th. Whites show a harmonious balance between sugar and acidity, with greater maturity and slightly softer acidity compared to 2022. The reds are all 100% destemmed with no fining or filtration, while the whites retain purity and definition with meticulous filtration.
At the time of writing, in 2026, the wine is all bright citrus and floral energy, drinking with real immediacy. Over the next year or two that primary fruit will soften slightly and the mineral, saline character will come more into focus. From 2028 onwards expect a touch more texture and perhaps a honeyed edge creeping in alongside the lime.
Tasting Notes
AppearancePale lemon-gold with a bright, youthful rim.
NoseWhite flowers lead, followed by lime zest and grapefruit pith. There's a faint chalky lift underneath that hints at the limestone above the clay.
PalateTaut and precise, with citrus fruit kept in check by a saline, mineral thread. The texture has just enough weight from the clay soils to stop it feeling austere.
FinishClean, lime-tinged, and refreshingly direct.
Overall impressionA Santenay blanc with real purpose, more precision than plushness.
Food Pairings
Around Santenay this would happily sit alongside jambon persillé or a simple terrine, the wine's citrus edge cutting through the richness. Local goat's cheeses, particularly a young Charolais chèvre, make an obvious match for that chalky minerality. Freshwater fish from the Burgundy canals, pike or trout with a butter sauce, would also work well, as would a classic quenelle de brochet. It's a wine built for the table rather than the armchair.
We think this wine would go well with
Serve at 11-12°C, cool but not fridge-cold, to let the floral and citrus notes show properly. No need to decant, though five minutes in the glass before drinking won't hurt. A standard white Burgundy glass, with enough bowl to capture the aromatics without losing the precision, is ideal.
The 'Les Champs Claude' parcel is planted with young vines first producing fruit in 2020, sitting on a slope where clay dominates the lower section and limestone takes over higher up. That shift in soil gives the wine its combination of textural grip and mineral lift, the clay lending weight and the limestone bringing the energy and precision in the glass. It's a classic Côte de Beaune pairing of soils, just on a smaller, less fêted stage than Meursault or Puligny.
Santenay sits at the southern tip of the Côte de Beaune, long overshadowed by its more famous neighbours yet capable of real precision and value. Reds dominate plantings here, so a white Santenay like this is something of a rarity, and the appellation rules allow for exactly the kind of fresh, mineral-driven Chardonnay that Girardin is making. Compared with Meursault's richness or Puligny's steeliness, Santenay blanc tends to sit somewhere more linear and citrus-driven, less polished perhaps, but honest and energetic.
The 2023 growing season in Burgundy unfolded like a cautionary tale about climate change, then pulled off a last-minute redemption that left everyone rather stunned. After a warm, early spring pushed budbreak ahead of schedule, the vines endured a thoroughly miserable summer of persistent rain and cool temperatures that had growers muttering darkly about rot and dilution. Just when things looked dire, September arrived with glorious sunshine and dry winds that concentrated the fruit and saved the harvest—though not without some frantic sorting in the cellars.
What emerged from this meteorological rollercoaster are wines that wear their vintage on their sleeve: Pinot Noirs with bright, singing acidity and red fruit that feels almost crystalline in its purity, whilst the Chardonnays show remarkable tension and mineral drive. The reds are drinking beautifully now if you fancy immediate pleasure, but we suspect the better villages and premiers crus will reward patience over the next decade. It's not a powerhouse vintage, but there's something genuinely charming about these wines—they remind us why we fell for Burgundy in the first place.
FAQs
What does this wine taste like?
Lime zest and grapefruit with floral lift, chalky minerality, and a clean citrus finish.
When should I drink this wine?
It's delicious now for its freshness and energy, and will hold nicely until 2032.
What food should I pair it with?
Think jambon persillé, young goat's cheese, or freshwater fish with a butter sauce.
How should I serve it?
Serve cool at 11-12°C in a white Burgundy glass, no decanting required.
Is this wine worth cellaring?
It's not built for decades in the cellar, but two to three years will add welcome texture.
What makes this Santenay different from other white Burgundies?
The clay-over-limestone soil gives it more mineral drive and citrus precision than the richer styles of Meursault.
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