Blanc Beaune 1er Cru Les Aigrots 750ml

White Beaune is something of a rarity—Pinot Noir dominates this corner of the Côte de Beaune so thoroughly that a Chardonnay bottling from a named Premier Cru feels like a small discovery. The 2022 Blanc Beaune 1er Cru Les Aigrots comes from a parcel just south of Beaune proper, planted on the same limestone-rich soils that give the appellation's reds their structure, but here turned toward something leaner and more mineral-driven. 2022 was a warm, generous vintage in Burgundy, and it shows in the fruit: ripe, concentrated, picked with enough acidity intact to keep the wine honest. Expect a nose of orchard fruit—baked apple, white peach—layered with hazelnut, fresh-cut hay, and a faint smokiness that comes from careful work in barrel. On the palate it's full-bodied but not heavy, with a saline, chalky minerality running underneath the fruit that keeps pulling you back for another sip. The finish is long and slightly savory, more in line with a serious white Burgundy than a simple fruit-forward Chardonnay. Les Aigrots is one of the better-regarded climats for white wine within Beaune, and producers who bottle it tend to treat it with the same seriousness as their Meursault or Puligny cuvées—partial new oak, lees stirring, patience. This isn't a wine built for immediate gratification; give it a year or two more in the cellar if you can wait, though it's drinking well now for anyone who wants to see what 2022 did for Beaune's white side. Pour this with roasted chicken rubbed in herbs, a creamy mushroom risotto, or a wedge of aged Comté. It also holds up surprisingly well against richer seafood—think scallops in brown butter or a whole roasted fish with fennel. Anyone building out a white Burgundy collection, or just curious about the less-trodden white wines of the Côte de Beaune, should put this one on the list. We've got a few bottles at Off Premise, and it's a good one to grab before word gets out.