A lineup that showed Aligoté at its most diverse, from reductive (William Kelley, Koji et Jae Hwa, Skyaasen) to softer, fruit-driven styles (Charles Lachaux, Carteret). The reds towards the end of the night brought juicy whole-cluster charm, with L’Ouverture and Orpheo stealing the spotlight for expressiveness.
WOTN- William Kelly (no surprises 😂), followed by Koji, third place shared by LJV and Charles Lachaux. Skyaasen showed well against heavy hitters. 2nd time trying Aymon aligote, this time I can appreciate it more.
Line up:
Champagne 🍾
Ulysse Collin Champagne Les Maillons – Rich, vinous, textured Champagne with trademark Collin energy. A serious grower fizz.
Aligote 🥂
AYMON Bourgogne-Aligoté 2023 – Reductive, youthful expression. My preferred style of whites but lose out on depth compared to some heavy hitters in this flight.
Yann Durieux Love and Pif 2021 – Playful, high acidity, green apples, leaning more natural and wild. Less precision than the others. Not to my liking.
Charles Lachaux Aligoté Les Champs d’Argent 2023 – 100% ceramic-aged, no oak. Pure, clean, crystalline fruit, honeysuckle. My previous experience with this was not amazing but tonight, comparing with other Aligote, I can appreciate its vibrant energy.
Les Horées Bourgogne-Aligoté En Coulezain 2020 – Textural, floral, precise and refined. Easy drinking.
Maison Skyaasen Bourgogne Aligoté 2022 – Reductive, smoky, and actually held up impressively against the hype producers. Definitely a sleeper in the lineup.
Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa Bourgogne Aligoté 2021 – Surprise of the night. Grassy, flinty, reductive, subdue oak. Good weight and concentration that points more to chard instead of the humble aligote. Looks like Koji does whites as well as reds. 598 btls.
Jérémy Carteret Bourgogne Doré 2023 –
A little too simple, fell short in this company. 808 btls.
Maison Glandien L’origine La Planète Blanc 2022 –
Aligote based, fruits from declassified vines of LJV. Nose is a little more subdue than expected. Compared to the 2023, less reductive, rounder and softer. Fine oak with saline finish. A more elegant expression to the ‘23. 252 btls.
William Kelley Bourgogne Aligoté 2022 – 💥 WOTN. Explosive reductive nose, powerful concentration, serious depth—just like the first time I had this, this is nothing like ur usual Aligote. Outstanding. 1,784 btls.
Les Jardins Vivants Les Reipes Reserve 2019 –
Lovely fruit purity with a little fattiness and buttery note. A high quality expression of aligote that is more like Chardonnay. Step up in depth, flintiness and concentration beside the l’orgine. The Les Vaux Reserve 21, I had previous is more expressive on the nose, more flamboyant. This LR is more calm and focus on quality of fruits. 131 btls.
Pinot Noir 🍷 Whole Cluster Paradise
Arnaud Lopez Bourgogne Larrets 2023 – Juicy, bright, whole-cluster lift, very approachable.
Arnaud Lopez Orphéo 2022 – More structure and complexity than Larrets, with darker fruit and spice.
Domaine de la Cras (Marc Soyard) Bourgogne Hermaïon 2021 – Savory, slightly wild, energetic—signature Soyard funk with depth.
Maison Glandien L’Ouverture 2020 – My favorite of Tino’s reds so far. Expressive, juicy, laced with funk and perfume. Pure pleasure.
by georgiefong
5 Comments
Ranking is about what you’d expect, Carteret has been pretty disappointing for me across the board, I feel a bit the same about -most- of Arnaud Lopez.
Durieux gains a lot with age, once it tames the wild side and the acidity integrates a bit they really grow in complexity (even if they’ll never reach the heights of the top boys there).
Solid lineup, give Seves Bouzeron and Maison Fang’s Aligote a try if you haven’t, I think they would fit well in the lineup.
Nice spread. I for one am living the current Aligoté revival. Drank one of Jessica Litaud’s 23s the other day, definitely more in the grandiose style with richness and fruit, which is not necessarily my preference, but beautiful wine regardless.
Bro this is my jam. Where were you when I needed aligote suggestions
Awesome idea for a tasting. I’d love to do something similar. Great wines there!
I am pretty new to Aligote, but recently had the Sylvain Pataille and absolutely loved it. Would love to try more, but not sure where it would land on a spectrum like this, and what would be similar. If anybody has any thoughts I’d really appreciate it!