The pursuit of freshness is a perennial struggle for white Burgundy vignerons these days. They’ve adapted to warmer, drier summers by delaying pruning, harvesting earlier, and tweaking their cellar work. But Chardonnay loves the sun, and inattentive growers can end up with overripe, high alcohol wines.
Aligoté has always been Chardonnay’s distant understudy. It’s been part of Burgundian winemaking for centuries, but has never been responsible for the region’s famous white wines. But warmer drier summers have meant that this naturally bright grape varietal has taken on added depth and complexity. Winemakers are now taking the grape more seriously, and the results are really exciting.
Our favorite so far is Vincent Boyer’s, a superstar winemaker crafting classic white Burgundies in Meursault and Puligny. He gives his Aligoté the same extended elevage (nearly two years in old barrels and concrete eggs) as his Chardonnays, and the resulting wine is simply exquisite. Burghound found the 2021 “exceptionally fresh” and “very well-detailed” with notes of “lemon rind, green apple, and spice.” He awarded it his “outstanding” designation, and concluded simply, “good stuff.”
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Boyer-Martenot Aligoté 2021
bottle price: $29
