{"id":7965,"date":"2023-03-22T14:17:37","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T06:17:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/?p=7965"},"modified":"2023-03-22T14:17:37","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T06:17:37","slug":"an-awesome-aligote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/p\/7965.html","title":{"rendered":"An Awesome Aligot\u00e9"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let me get right to the point. The 2020 Aligot\u00e9 from Domaine du Cellier aux Moines is the best Bourgogne Aligot\u00e9 I\u2019ve ever had, and I\u2019ve had one from Coche-Dury. Why is it so stunning? Firstly, this Aligot\u00e9, labelled \u201cSous les Roches,\u201d comes from a vineyard in Montagny planted in 1945. Secondly, the extremely focused and talented team at Domaine du Cellier aux Moines made the wine.<\/p>\n

Although Aligot\u00e9 represents only about six percent of vineyard plantings in Burgundy today, it has played a much bigger role in the past. In the 19th<\/sup> century, before phylloxera, growers intermingled Aligot\u00e9 with Chardonnay in grand sites, such as Corton Charlemagne and Montrachet, and blended the two grapes in the winery. After phylloxera, Aligot\u00e9 fell out of favor and its acreage declined. Now it is usually planted in less renowned sites, frequently on flatter lands in the plains, and often\u2014all too often\u2014winds up being used for making Kir, a popular Burgundian aperitif.<\/p>\n

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The appellation, Bourgogne Aligot\u00e9, is an anomaly in Bourgogne, the epicenter of terroir-based viticulture, because it is named for the grape, not the site. The grapes for Bourgogne Aligot\u00e9 can come from anywhere in Bourgogne, from the C\u00f4te Auxerrois in the north near Chablis to M\u00e2con in the south. (The French prefer the use of the term Bourgogne, rather than Burgundy because that\u2019s the traditional name of the region. Plus, in French, burgundy<\/em> can be translated as maroon or Mon Dieu, Bordeaux<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

Before we get to the wine, a bit of the backstory. Philippe Pascal, whose family today owns Domaine du Cellier aux Moines, explains that Raymond Corneloup planted the vines, a s\u00e9lection massale, <\/em>in 1945 to celebrate the end of World War II and the surrender of Nazi Germany. (A massale selection, in contrast to a clonal selection, is a selection of many different vines, each displaying a unique characteristic, to maintain the genetic diversity of a vineyard.) Corneloup, who owned vineyards and worked in Montagny, chose limestone rich soil on one of the highest slopes in that village near an old quarry, hence the name of the wine, \u201cSous les Roches.\u201d When Raymond\u2019s son, Fran\u00e7ois, took over the property, he continued his father\u2019s tradition of selling the grapes to the local Montagny co-op. That is until he retired, at which time he agreed to a long-term contract with Pascal and the Domaine du Cellier aux Moines in neighboring Givry. Today Pascal and his team do all the farming, vineyard work, and harvesting in addition to the winemaking.<\/p>\n

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Pascal notes that they have not done DNA testing to determine if any of the vines in Sous les Roches are the Aligot\u00e9 Dor\u00e9 planted in Bouzeron, which are today felt to produce superior wines (see Ian D\u2019Agata\u2019s article: Understanding Bouzeron, Its Terroir, And the Great Wines of Domaine de Villaine<\/a>). But he notes that the grapes are clearly golden at harvest, like those of Aligot\u00e9 Dor\u00e9e, because they wait for perfect phenolic maturity. Sous les Roches is tiny, only one-fifth of a hectare and the production equally minute, about 1,500 bottles in 2020.<\/p>\n

Domaine du Cellier aux Moines 2020 Bourgogne Aligot\u00e9 Sous les Roches\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 96<\/strong><\/p>\n

With both minerals and fruit on the nose, it is no surprise that those components of the 2020 Domaine du Cellier aux Moines Bourgogne Aligot\u00e9 \u201cSous les Roches\u201d caresses the palate. This thoroughbred displays incredible power and grace. An enveloping creamy richness and riveting mouthwatering saline-like acidity amplifies its appeal.\u00a0 You\u2019d be excused if you failed to identify this beauty as Aligot\u00e9 because of its depth and complexity. I repeat the advice that Philippe Pascal gives when showing this wine to visitors, \u201cDo not make a Kir with it.\u201d Its cutting edginess and luxurious body would, however, make it a good choice with a vast array of sushi, Cantonese dishes, and even bolder Asian fare. Planted in the correct site and farmed, vinified, and aged seriously in the cellar, Aligot\u00e9 can develop in the bottle just like the grandest Chardonnays. Ponsot\u2019s Morey St. Denis Premier Cru Monts Luisants, made entirely from Aligot\u00e9, shows just that, developing a layered complexity with a decade or more of bottle age. Though Domaine du Cellier aux Moines\u2019 Aligot\u00e9 is breath-taking now, I suspect it too will develop divinely with bottle age given its balance and pedigree. The problem, of course, will be keeping your hands off it. Drinking window: 2023-2030.<\/p>\n

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by Michael Apstein MD<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":7971,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[120],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-producer-insight","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7965"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7970,"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7965\/revisions\/7970"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}