Wine Country: France

Wine Subregion: Burgundy

Over the years, we have felt obliged to tell our customers that the white wine grape of Burgundy was Chardonnay. And it is. Except, that is, for a smattering of Pinot Blanc in the Cotes de Nuits, some Sauvignon Blanc near Chablis, and this one tiny little asterisk- a grape variety that tenaciously clings for dear life to its tiny terroir even as Chardonnay runs roughshod over the rest.  It’s called Aligoté.  It has been in ground for at least as long as Chardonnay but, because it is often much lighter in body and more mineral and austere in nature, it’s never been seen as making noble wines, and is limited now to only a few old  spots around the Cotes d’Or and its own special appellation in the Cotes Chalonnaise called Bouzeron. Aligoté (ally-go-tay) is the stuff one traditionally finds in the pichets of the local farmers sharing glasses at the market or on the concrete chess boards in the park. It’s cheap (or, at least, used to be), and, since all the best Chardonnay from the region’s best vineyards gets exported, readily available to the locals.  It was said, as recently as 20 years ago, that Aligoté’s days were numbered.  But a funny thing happened.  Climate change.  The warmer summers and better ripening conditions have had a remarkable effect on anemic ol’ Aligoté!  It got good.  As the summer heat increased in Burgundy, so did the sugars in this difficult-to-ripen grape which then led to richer, riper fruit;  its firm, mineral-driven acidity now respired to a level where drinking it is less like drinking lemon-infused mineral water and more like drinking a delicious white wine with polish, elegance and, dare I say, real panache!  It’s happened!  And those with the oldest plantings of Aligoté have found themselves able to make very fine wine from it, diminishing the urge to graft these vines over to Chardonnay or Pinot Noir and offering it a future it didn’t have  before.  Domaine de la Folie, arguably the most important estate in all the Chalon, has two separate plantings of Aligoté.  The younger of the two was planted in 1973 while the older parcel dates to 1947.  If these two old vineyards can’t produce Aligoté worth drinking, none can!  The very cool Old School label itself comes from the old metal sign that used to welcome visitors to the domaine.  They use it to distinguish the wine from their famous Rully Blanc cuvees, all of which are longtime PRIMA favorites.  The wine itself is remarkable.  Its nose is of flinty mineral- smelling of petrichor, like a slate sidewalk drying in the sun after the rain, and nicely complements its crisp, malic crunchy Asian pear fruit and hint of clove-y spice.  Medium-weight rather than light, its whiff of salinity and bracing acidity makes it the perfect wine for oysters, some warm cheesy gougères or a delicious runny Comte. Or you can be like the Burgundians themselves and bring a bottle to the park and drink it while playing chess or reading the paper.  I’ve always secretly loved Aligoté, even the leaner, more austere kinds, but this bottling, to me, takes this under-appreciated grape to the next level, and the first half case (especially at just $35 a bottle!) went home with me.