The 2019 vintage comes with no shortage of hype – “superb,” writes Burghound; “a thrilling year for Pinot Noir,” writes William Kelley – but from our tastings over the past few months we’ve found the buzz well deserved. It’s a terrific red Burgundy vintage, producing wines with extraordinary balance between ripe fruit, acidity, and tannin. As Neal Martin put it, “they unexpectedly offer freshness and richness that were once thought to be mutually exclusive.”
We’ve spent the last few days tasting exciting 2019 reds from across Burgundy, and we have many exciting ideas to share in next Sunday’s July Futures. But one in particular caught our attention, and so we’re focusing on it today.
Roger and Julie Belland are 5th and 6th generation growers in Santenay – their wines are perennial favorites among our readers, offering early drinking and friendly pricetags. Belland’s 2019s are magnificent, as classy and supple as anything they’ve produced — look for all five cuvées next Sunday, but here’s a closer look at one today.
Located near the southern limit of the Côte d’Or, Santenay is one of our favorite sources of value. Its finest vineyard, the premier cru Gravières, features gravelly soil (hence the name) and produces wines with beautiful mineral complexity. Pair this with the bursting fruit and rippling tension of the 2019 vintage, and this is not a wine to miss.
We simply couldn’t put Belland’s 2019 Gravières down, and returned to it several days in a row. The nose shows violets, gingerbread, toast, and wild cherries. The texture is extraordinary — fine-grained tannins coated perfectly with smooth Pinot fruit and a fresh line of minerality. Burghound called it “outstanding,” awarding 92 points and finding “silky minerality” and a “complex, balanced and impressively long finish.”
We’ll be tucking some of this into our personal cellar, and we invite you to join us. Reply to this email to reserve some.
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Belland Santenay 1er cru “Gravières” 2019
Ansonia Retail: $576/case ($48/bot)
July Futures: $395/case ($32.19/bot)
