Chris Santini is a young winemaker crafting some seriously exciting and delicious wines in the south of Burgundy. Using a lo-fi approach, these are individual, personality filled wines that move to their own beat.
With a Corsican father raised in Tunisia and an American passport, Chris has travelled far and wide, making wine in Provence and Burgundy before settling in Beaune to work for American importing legend, Kermit Lynch.
The Santini Collective is a collaboration between Chris and his brothers, making wines in The Auxey-Collective, a 100 year old cellar in Auxey-Duresses that they share with other young winemakers.
With network of brilliant contacts, he sources fruit from organic growers from Burgundy and beyond. The wines have the flair and expressive personality that comes with minimal intervention. It's a fantastic project that is revealing some fascinating wines from many parts of France.
"Succulent, silky, gliding, firm. An incredible wine."
- Mike Bennie (The Wine Front) on the 2019 Santini Vin de France Rouge Grenache Noir
We've got a couple of wines from Santini that we thought were striking in their uniqueness and individuality.
The bright and energetic Grenache Noir made from fruit sourced from Chris' connections in Provence (which received 95 points from Mike Bennie at The Wine Front) and the fascinating Burgundian Chardonnay that is taut, textural and full of charisma without the Burgundy price-tag, and also received a great review with 94 points from Mike Bennie.
In fact, the Santini Bourgogne Blanc received one of the best reviews for sub-$100 White Burgundy on The Wine Front in last year, outscoring wines at two or three times its price!
"So refreshing, so interesting and such a delicious, left-of-centre expression here. Ripper."
- Mike Bennie (The Wine Front) on the 2020 Santini Bourgogne Blanc
It's becoming more and more difficult to source interesting, artisanally-made wines out of France at a reasonable price, and while these are by no means cheap, we think they offer excellent relative value to the sort of quality you'd find in Australia at a similar price point and that in itself is nothing short of remarkable.
We only have a small amount of these wines available at the moment, and with the terrific reviews we expect them to disappear in short order.
Shop all things Santini Collective right here!
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