By Lettie Teague
I have a new favorite wine that I like so much, I even reconsidered writing about it. This bright, refreshing white is one of the few remaining bargains from Burgundy (pending President Trump's threat of alcohol tariffs). Might any additional publicity further drive up the price?
But since this column is, above all, about service to readers, I'll confess the name of my crush: Aligoté. Once scorned as the workhorse grape of Burgundy, it is increasingly prized by top Burgundy vignerons producing impressive examples that remain -- as yet -- affordable.
Although the grape's DNA profile places it in the Pinot family, Aligoté has long been treated as a "lesser" variety in Burgundy. Chardonnay, Burgundy's star white grape, is planted in all the best appellations and vineyards and valued as such. Aligoté has often been relegated to less-viable vineyard locations -- in a low valley or at the top of a hill where frost was a danger. Fortunately, Aligoté is hardy as well as prolific.
Though Aligoté is grown all over Burgundy -- even in the vaunted Côte d'Or -- the only appellation where it can be legally produced with a place name attached is Bouzeron, a commune in the Côte Chalonnaise. As of 1997 these wines, once labeled merely as Bourgogne Aligoté, can now be identified as Bouzeron Aligoté.
Importer Dan Kravitz confirms that when he started out with wines from Burgundy, Aligoté's reputation was hardly illustrious. "In the '90s no one bought [Aligoté] to make good wine. It was a wine for people for whom wine was just a beverage," Kravitz said, also describing it as a wine for the winemaker's family to drink. (Kravitz sold his import company, Hand Picked Selections, in 2021 but maintains an informal advisory role.) Aligoté is also the wine some Burgundians use to make Kir, that sweet cocktail of white wine and crème de cassis.
I wouldn't dream of combining cassis with the sprightly, citric 2022 Domaine Bitouzet-Prieur "Les Grandes Terres" Bourgogne Aligoté ($26), produced from old vines in a vineyard located at the foot of the Volnay hillside. Winemaker François Bitouzet noted that he treats his Aligoté with the same care and attention he gives his more prestigious Meursault wines. Bitouzet's description of his Aligoté captured its character so succinctly I will quote him: "A refreshing wine, but with a width in the mouth and a length that stimulates your taste buds and your mind."
The 70 or so members of Les Aligoteurs, a group of Burgundy vintners founded in 2018 to champion the grape, lavish similar care and attention on their Aligotés. The group includes such highly regarded producers as Anne Morey, Domaine Ponsot and Sylvain Pataille. The Marsannay-based Pataille, a founding member, is a passionate and prolific producer, producing many iterations from the Aligoté Doré clone. (Clones are produced by taking cuttings from grape vines; different clones have different characteristics.)
Pataille and his peers deem Doré to be the superior Aligoté clone, capable of yielding the most complex wines. I was only able to find the "basic" Pataille bottling, the 2022 Domaine Sylvain Pataille Bourgogne Aligoté ($34). Yet this lithe, minerally example was far from a basic expression of the grape. It was also one of several Aligotés I promptly purchased again.
Indeed, of the 12 Aligotés I purchased for my tasting, I would buy all but two of them again. The exceptions were both shrill, high-acid whites with unattractive vegetal notes. Perhaps they were produced from grapes that were not fully ripe, resulting in wines with an unpleasant hard edge that gave Aligoté its reputation as a "lesser" grape.
The wines I bought were all priced between $20 and $47 a bottle, save for one splurge, the 2022 Domaine Chanterêves Miarlons du Bas Bourgogne Aligoté ($65). I purchased the latter to see if it was markedly better than its lower-priced peers. It was not. Though I found its floral and citrus aromas intriguing, it fell somewhat short, lacking the finesse of some of the less expensive wines.
Those included the 2022 Domaine Paul Pillot Bourgogne Aligoté ($47), a beautifully balanced take on the grape from Thierry Pillot, the 4th-generation winemaker who took over at his family's Chassagne-Montrachet-based domaine in 2004. The lissome 2022 Comte Armand Bourgogne Aligoté ($46), produced from the Aligoté Doré clone at the famed Pommard-based domaine, similarly impressed me.
A few more wines I tasted and would recommend -- I wish I could squeeze them into the Oenofile sidebar below -- included the zesty, citrus-inflected 2023 Rémi Jobard Bourgogne Aligoté ($35); the crisp, light-bodied, quite pleasant 2022 Albert Bichot Bourgogne Aligoté ($20); and the particularly zingy 2021 Domaine Pierre Morey Cuvée Becky Bourgogne Aligoté ($30), named in honor of the late, beloved wine importer Becky Wasserman.
Of my very favorite Aligotés, only one was produced in Bouzeron. The back label of the 2022 Domaine de Villaine Bouzeron ($47) describes it as resembling Chablis, which I consider more than just. It was produced at Domaine A & P de Villaine -- owned by Aubert de Villaine, the legendary longtime co-director of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti -- the source of some of Burgundy's most expensive and sought-after wines.
Domaine A & P de Villaine's winemaker, Pierre de Benoist, was one of several I contacted who noted that the warmer temperatures of recent years have particularly benefited Aligoté. "Thanks to the climate change, the Aligoté Doré is able to ripen and, at the same time, keep enough acidity to preserve this sensation of freshness that makes Burgundy white wines so famous," de Benoist wrote in an email.
All the winemakers cited in this column produce much more "important," much more expensive wines. But the wines they make from a grape once thought fit only for family consumption are the ones I want to -- and can comfortably afford to -- drink over and over again. I just hope the rest of the world won't catch on too fast.
OENOFILE / 5 Aligotés That Are Among the Best Values in White Burgundy
2022 Domaine Paul Pillot Bourgogne Aligoté, $47
Beautifully balanced and expressive, this white with a notably long mineral finish is produced by Thierry Pillot, who has been making wines at his family's Chassagne-Montrachet-based domaine for more than two decades.
2022 Domaine de Villaine Bouzeron Aligoté, $47
The back label of this Aligoté from winemaker Pierre de Benoist likens it to Chablis -- a fair comparison for this lovely, nuanced wine marked by floral and citrus aromas, produced from vineyards 10-90 years old.
2022 Comte Armand Bourgogne Aligoté, $46
This fresh and lively, surprisingly lush white is produced from the prized Aligoté Dore clone and sourced from a variety of Aligoté vineyards in the villages of Meursault, Volnay and Pommard in Burgundy's fabled Côte d'Or.
2022 Domaine Sylvain Pataille Bourgogne Aligoté, $34
Sylvain Pataille was the first Burgundy vigneron to focus on single-site Aligotés according to David Hinkle, French portfolio director for Skurnik Wines. Pataille's expertise shows in this minerally, almost flinty white.
2022 Domaine Bitouzet-Prieur 'Les Grandes Terres' Bourgogne Aligoté, $26
This crisp white produced from a vineyard planted in 1954 at the foot of the Volnay hillside was vinified with the same care François Bitouzet lavishes on his pricier wines.
Email Lettie at wine@wsj.com.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 21, 2025 13:15 ET (17:15 GMT)
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