Roger Belland is best known for his beautiful, golden premier cru Clos Pitois from Chassagne-Montrachet. It’s rich, elegant, and everything you want in a top class white Burgundy. When we want to really impress someone with a Chardonnay, we often reach for the Pitois blanc.
Belland’s Santenay 1er cru “Beauregard” blanc is not as complex or long-lived as the Chassagne premier cru — but for half the price it does an admirable impression, and we think it’s a bargain. White Burgundy prices continue to rise around the region, but this wine is proof that there’s still value to be found.
Belland’s Beauregard blanc vines are a few hundred yards from the Chassagne-Montrachet border, and the wine drinks like it’s from much fancier terroir. The 2020 Beauregard blanc is rich and opulent, the product of abundant ripe fruit channeled into a tasty package. Burghound agreed, finding it “succulent, round and delicious” with “good focus on the refreshing finale.”
The 2020 whites continue to be strikingly good — perfectly ripe, fleshy fruit bolstered by laser focus and elegant shape. With a tiny crop and impressive early drinking window, we don’t expect them to be around much longer.
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Belland Santenay 1er “Beauregard” blanc 2020
bottle price: $55
