Santenay Premier Cru 'La Maladière' Vieilles Vignes Rouge, Domaine Benoit Girardin, 2022

An exciting new talent to add to the Honest Grapes roster, who is already making waves in France, and we are thrilled to introduce into the UK: The Girardin family claim thirteen generations of winemakers and Yves Girardin, like his siblings was given 3ha of vines which he subsequently grew to 21ha, purchasing the family property Chateau de de la Charriere in Santenay 2003.

His son Benoit created his own domaine in 2020, with 8 hectares of prime vineyards from his father’s holdings, including plots in Savigny-Les-Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet, Meursault and Pommard. He started harvesting on 1st September as prefers balanced rather than too high acidity, and the grapes were 100% destemmed, with fermentations in steel, no pigeage, and the wines subsequently raised in 10-30% new oak. So far, so standard – there is nothing on paper which would make the range stand out… BUT there are some tastings which raise the level of energy in a room – and this was tasting was simply electric – the wines showing a sophistication, and silken elegance quite rare at this level, at once pretty but gourmand, precise and generous at the same time.

The whole range comes extremely highly recommended, these are wines to get in the cellar at the beginning of the domaine’s trajectory, whilst prices are attractive and allocations plentiful.

"More limestone soils give elegance and finesse to this wine which has a lightly smoky nose, full of raspberries, cocoa, and dark earth. The palate offers spicy red plums and cherries, bound by linear, herbal tea tannins, and a refreshing phenolic bitterness on the finish. Sinuous and sapid this should develop well over the next five+ years."
Tom Harrow, Head Wine Guru