Bourgogne Aligoté Doré Sélection Massale AOP 2024

An Aligoté with substance: deep, saline, carried by fine acidity. Boris Champy vinifies it from an old sélection massale of Aligoté Doré, whose golden berry colour gives this variant its name.

The parcels lie in the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune towards Bouze-lès-Beaune, at over 400 metres of altitude. The soils are interspersed with limestone, calcareous marl and clay. The estate has worked biodynamically since 1984, using preparations from a self-built tisanière; hedgerows, stone walls, orchards and sheep shape the landscape around Nantoux.

Aligoté Doré from an old sélection massale, planted very densely at 10,000 vines per hectare, trained in Guyot and lyre. Its grapes were the last of the harvest, picked on 29 September. Spontaneous fermentation, twelve months of ageing: 70% in used pièces on the lees, 30% in stainless steel. 12.5% vol., dry.

The nose is open and inviting: ripe citrus fruits, a touch of orange zest, green and yellow plums, along with herbs, nuts and a stony note. Intense and deep on the palate, with a silky texture, taut and finely spiced, a saline finish and a fine balance of ripeness and freshness.

Boris Champy took over the estate in 2019 from Didier Montchovet, after ten years at Dominus Estate in the Napa Valley under Christian Mouëix, a stint as technical director for a Beaune négociant, and heading Clos des Lambrays. In between came a pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago de Compostela. The estate was the first in Burgundy to achieve Demeter certification, in 1984; the logo appears on the label.