There’s something of the ugly duckling about the aligoté grape in Burgundy. For a long time, it was relegated to being blended with blackcurrant liqueur for the aperitif kir. But things are happening now — in fact, they have been for several years. Aligoté is starting to take a more prominent place among the white Burgundy wines.
During our visit this spring on the Burgundy wine tour to Hanna Schaps at Maison Schaps just outside Beaune, we tasted, among other things, her intriguing Bouzeron Les Clous 2023. Bouzeron is an appellation in the Côte Chalonnaise that is 100% aligoté. Hanna gives it 24 hours of skin contact and a bit of oak aging, and she uses a special, more flavourful, she says, variant of aligoté called aligoté dorée. A very delicious wine — golden yellow in colour, distinctive, full-bodied, and with a wonderful mouthfeel.
You will hopefully find many aligoté in your wine store. Here are just a few suggestions.
- Bourgogne Aligoté Joseph Drouhin, ~18 euro
- Bourgogne Aligoté Domaine Sylvain Pataille, ~25 euro
- Bourgogne Aligoté, Alice et Olivier De Moor ~30 euro
Curious fact:
Aligoté is the most planted grape variety in Moldova! It is also widely planted in some of the neighbouring countries. Perhaps you’d be interested in a wine tour to Moldova? We know the country better than most.
Travel: Come on a wine tour to Burgundy (and Champagne) with BKWine. (PS: We’ve written a prize-winning book on Burgundy and one about Champagne.)
