It’s been a little while since I’ve added to my ‘Age of Bourgogne Aligote’ series, but after tasting another incredible wine from Burgundy wunderkind, Marc Soyard, the excitement of drinking top Aligote was well and truly reignited again. But who is this incredible new talent that is taking Burgundy drinkers by storm? To find out, you have to step off Burgundy’s well-trodden paths and head up a less promising gravel track north-west of Dijon to where you’ll find the home of Marc Soyard – possibly one of the region’s newest and most sought-after winemaking talents. Away from Burgundy’s golden slopes there are places never visited by tourists, where one can also discover winemaking geniuses like Marc.
If you head the wrong way out of Dijon (north-west instead of south) and turn up a dusty track at just the right place, you might just find yourself at Domaine de la Cras – the winemaking home of Marc Soyard. Even though his front door also has a small plaque announcing the name of his winery, you won’t be sure that you’ve come to the right place until this big, friendly, gregarious winemaker opens the front door and welcomes you into one of the newest sources of great Burgundy wine.
Marc spent seven vintages working with the famous Jean-Yves Bizot, and you can see that the pupil too has become a master of his trade. While his most noted wine is his Pinot Noir from Pommard, his intelligent handling of Aligote show just how fresh, delicious and energetic this cultivar can really be. This is a superb wine made with emotion, feeling and precision. These are definitely wines worth seeking out.
Marc Soyard Tercet Bourgogne Aligoté 2023, 11% Abv.
A dulled bronze yellow in the glass, this opulent 2023 expression from Marc Soyard captures the true essence of premium Aligoté beautifully. The aromatics are packed full of lemon and lime zest, honeysuckle, white flowers, lemon oil, Pink Lady dessert apples, and warm buttered white toast drizzled with melted honey. Medium to full-bodied in the mouth, the wine displays a generous tart apple and pear fruit concentration and a fleshy ripeness, all wonderfully underpinned by deliciously mouthwatering tangy lemony acids. The genius and talent of Marc Soyard to elevate a relatively modest grape like Aligoté to such heights of fruit texture, concentration and harmony speak of his brilliance as a winemaker. Drink now and over the next 3 to 6+ years.
(Wine Safari Score: 92-93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Domaine Marc Soyard wines are available exclusively to UK trade and private clients from http://www.Musigny.wine