In the prestigious landscape of Puligny-Montrachet, Domaine Leflaive stands as the definitive titan of Chardonnay. However, their Bourgogne Aligoté represents a fascinating, ultra-rare departure from the estate’s golden standard. While most of the world’s Aligoté is relegated to high-yield production for casual consumption (famously as the base for Kir), Leflaive treats this “other” white grape of Burgundy with the same biodynamic rigor and artisanal precision as their Grand Cru Batard-Montrachet.
The rarity of this wine is two-fold: geography and philosophy. Domaine Leflaive produces a remarkably small volume compared to their village and premier cru labels. The fruit is sourced from ancient vines, some over 80 years old, planted in tiny, prized parcels that escaped the 19th-century trend of uprooting Aligoté in favour of the more profitable Chardonnay.
Because the estate focuses almost exclusively on its 22 hectares of noble terroir, the Aligoté is often a “hidden” allocation, rarely appearing on retail shelves and typically vanishing into the private cellars of the world’s top collectors. To find a bottle is to experience a masterclass in tension; it is a high-acid, mineral-driven unicorn that proves even Burgundy’s “lesser” grape can achieve transcendence in the right hands.
Delicious stony, flinty reduction on the nose with aromatic layers of pithy white citrus, bergamot, lemon peel, sweet dried herbs and delicate limestone nuances. The texture is full in the mouth, the acids soft and beautifully integrated, deliciously harmonious and elegant, melting into waxy yellow stone fruits that coat the palate. There’s a weightless concentration, a delicate pithiness and a creamy, tangy vibrancy on the fresh finish. Super youthful at 10 years old, this wine is invitingly drinkable and an incredibly charming expression of Aligote. My first time trying it as well!
Domaine Parent has long been a leading producer of premium wines in Burgundy. With a history going back many generations, Etienne Parent was rumoured to have sold wine to Thomas Jefferson back in 1787. Moving to the modern era, Domaine Parent is recognised as one of the first growers to sell their production in bottle rather than in bulk. Now run by 12th generation custodian Anne Parent, the domaine continues to produce some of the most eye-catching wines in Burgundy and specifically in Pommard.
Anne Parent has also been a trailblazer in biodynamics and a real force for strict vineyard management. Hence, the domaine has managed to stay very much at the top of the tree in the jostling for position in the village hierarchy. Her supreme confidence has led to the wines having an assertiveness, yet a true Burgundian opulence that is hard to resist. The wines are silky and plush – you really can finish a bottle with ease. From the everyday Bourgogne Pinot Noir to the mesmerising Crus of Pommard, all are hand-crafted with care and attention to detail.
The Parent label is instantly recognisable throughout the upper quality echelons of Burgundy, and the family is rightly proud of their hard-earned global reputation. In a competitive fine wine world where so many domaines have taken their eye off the ball, Anne has kept her love of the vineyard, her family history and future very much close to her. Part of this long-term planning has seen Anne bring her niece Constance Fages-Parent into the running and marketing of the domaine’s wines as preparations are slowly put in place for the next chapter in the history of this famous Burgundy winery.
Constance and Anne Parent
I recently travelled to see Anne and Constance in Burgundy to taste a selection of the newly released 2023 wines. Speaking to Anne about the new releases, she confirmed… “2023 was a generous vintage with great quality at the domaine. Perhaps not quite the gravitas of the exceptional 2022 vintage, but the wines are marked with beautiful fruit purity and opulence with accessibility.”
Tasting the 2023 wines with owner Anne Parent
The 2023 growing season brought both challenges and rewards: after a cool, rainy July, a late heatwave in August and early September ensured optimal ripeness. Harvest began in mid-September, with yields around 46–48 hl/ha and moderate alcohol levels (12.5–13.2%). Vinification was deliberately gentle, with reduced punching down and delicate extraction, restrained use of new oak, and a focus on preserving fruit purity above all.
Burgundy 2023 En-primeur Notes:
Domaine Anne Parent Monthelie Blanc 2023
Made from an AOC that is primarily 90% red / 10% white, this 2023 was picked early to retain acidity and vinified with 35% new French oak. The wine shows complex aromatics with leesy biscuit notes, a supple fleshy breadth with savoury waxy lemons and a white toast and oatmeal complexity on the finish. Really delicious. Drink from 2026 to 2034.
(Wine Safari Score: 91-92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Anne Parent Corton Grand Cru 2023
100% new French oak used with no batonnage. Incredibly taut, mineral and stony with limestone and struck flint over zesty lemon and lime fruits, tart green apple and a beautifully supple, fleshy breadth with well-integrated acids and a pronounced fruit concentration on the finish. Understated power hiding under the minerality and terroir veil. Drink from 2026 to 2036.
(Wine Safari Score: 93-94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Anne Parent Bourgogne Cote d’Or 2023
All fruit was destemmed and aged in older oak. Very intense perfumed aromatics bursting with life, boasting sweet violets, rose petals and luscious layers of raspberry and black cherry. The palate shows a fine textural breadth and equilibrium, finely balancing forest berry fruits, strawberry compote and cool, creamy mineral tannins. A truly classy Bourgogne. Drink from 2026 to 2032.
(Wine Safari Score: 90-91+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Anne Parent Bourgogne Selection Pomone 2023
100% destemmed fruit with slightly longer maceration on skins in larger 600 litre barrels. The resulting wine reveals deeper and darker aromatics laced with black cherry, damson plum and exotic cherry kirsch liquor notes. Beautifully dense and creamy texture with extra depth and opulence, plushness and mouth coating concentration. Lovely intricacy and complexity in an accessible style. Drink from 2026 to 2034+.
(Wine Safari Score: 91-92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Anne Parent Ladoix 2023
The aromatics show a beautiful melange of red and black berry fruits with intricate notes of dried herbs, potpourri and rose petals, gun-smoke and limestone minerality. Broad and beautifully dark fruited on the palate with a creamy black cherry compote concentration, plush fleshy tannins and a broad, comforting, reassuring power. Ladoix over performs once again. Drink from 2026 to 2036.
(Wine Safari Score: 91-92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Anne Parent Pommard 1er Cru Les Chaponnieres 2023
From Pinot Noir grown on brown and red clay soils that offers a more generous expression. Dark and alluring aromatics of black cherry, kirsch liquor and damson plum with an exotic sloe berry hint. The palate shows a beautiful creamy breadth and understated power with an impressive depth, powdery tannins and tangy freshness. Understated power combined with a little Pommard intrigue and intensity. Drink from 2026 to 2036+.
(Wine Safari Score: 92-93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Anne Parent Pommard 1er Cru Les Epenots 2023
40% whole bunch used with 50% new French oak from fruit grown on a lighter, finer grain of clay soils without much depth. Yields a fabulously fragrant expression bursting with life, packed full of perfumed violets, creme de cassis, black cherry and blueberry compote. The chalky candied pink musk nuances make this an incredible complex and compelling offering with seamless limestone tannins and a fantastic intense finish. A truly elegant Pommard classic. Drink from 2026 to 2036+.
(Wine Safari Score: 93-94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Anne Parent Corton Grand Cru Les Renardes 2023
From Pinot Noir grown on deep limestone soils on the hill of Corton, just above Les Bressandes. The wine is rich and expressive, full of ripe brûléed fruits, black cherries and a bramble berry savoury depth. Sleek and supple in the mouth, there is a polished accessibility, light touch elegance, bright racy acids and a long, distinguished, concentrated finish. Very classy indeed. Drink from 2026 to 2036+.
(Wine Safari Score: 93-95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Domaine Anne Parent wines are imported into the UK by Musigny Wines. The 2023 En-primeur releases are currently being offered in September 2025 by Musigny Wines. Email andrew@musigny.wine to request a 2023 EP offer and discuss an allocation.
There is simply no denying the global wine trade’s perpetual fascination with Japanese winemakers, whether they are plying their trade in New Zealand, in France’s Jura region or in Burgundy’s Cote d’Or. The focus, precision, balance, and purity they managed to coax out of their grapes is simply next level, whether the fruit is grown by themselves or bought in from the negociant market. Over the past two years, I have been privileged to visit one of the most exciting Japanese producers several times, namely Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa in Gevrey Chambertin.
Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa’s new cellars in Gevrey Chambertin.
This domaine, located in Jean-Marie Fourrier’s father’s old cellars, was founded in 2000 by Japanese sommelier and oenologist Koji Nakada and his Korean wife Jae Hwa Park. The journey started back in 1996 when Koji Nakada moved to Burgundy to study oenology at the University of Beaune, after which Koji started a wine business with negociant fruit, bottling a maiden Nuits Saint Georges Vieilles Vignes in 2000. Their first domaine plots of land were only purchased several years later in 2012, including treasured vines in the village of Gevrey Chambertin and Marsannay.
Koji Nakada in Gevrey Chambertin
Koji Nakada’s respected negociant label, bottled under the Lou Dumont name, is a combination of the name of their goddaughter, Lou, and the French translation for ‘mountain’, which pays homage to the regions of Japan and Korea where Koji and Jae Hwa grew up. The Kanji symbol on the label – sky, earth and man – refers to the natural elements whose perfect balance is a key ingredient for making fine wines, allowing the unique characteristics of site and terroir to shine through in the wine’s purity, elegance, and complexity.
The tiny La Brunelle Gevrey Chambertin vineyard just behind the winery.
As a winemaker, Koji Nakada’s goal is to produce pure, authentic Burgundy wines that clearly show their unique terroir, made from grapes grown with organic viticulture and a minimal intervention approach in both the vineyards and the cellar, using indigenous yeasts for fermentation and only adding low quantities of sulphites at bottling. Koji also pays special attention to very light touch pumping over and punch downs to ensure utmost purity during extraction. Today, Koji and Jae Hwa produce a stunning array of red and white wines from over a dozen different appellations with fruit purchased from respected premium vineyards with vines averaging 30 to 40 years of age.
Tasting in London with Koji.
On the first of my two visits to Koji’s cellar in November 2024 with his exclusive UK importer Musigny Wines, we arrived only to be told that Koji was still in Champagne tending his precious 1.5 hectares of vines in the Aube region where he makes some stunning Champagne. So we were shown around the winery by Koji’s wife Jae Hwa and also tasted with their tall, semi-pro tennis playing cellar assistant. On our return visit, Koji was back from Champagne and was pleased to show us around the labyrinth of old and new cellars under Jean-Claude Fourrier’s old house.
My tasting notes below are a combination of bottle and barrel tastings from these two cellar visits but also include some subsequent additional notes taken during Koji’s recent Michelin star tasting dinner at Cornus Restaurant in London hosted by his UK importer Musigny Wines.
Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa Coteaux Bourguignons Blanc 2022, 13% Abv.
Parcel purchased in 2012 near Nuits St Georges, pulling out the Aligote and replanting Chardonnay. Potential for 2000 bottles but allows the younger vines to settle by only making 700 bottles. Incredible aromatics of struck match, flint, sweet pear, bergamot, and wet limestone. The palate is delicate yet intense, fabulously bright and concentrated with tangy lemon pastille, green apple, salty toasted sourdough, and a gently phenolic chalky finish. Absolutely delicious expression.
(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa La Hautes Cotes de Nuits Violette Pinot Noir 2022, 13% Abv.
1 hectare vineyard near Gevrey producing a meagre 1,500 bottles. First vintage 2019. 80% whole bunch. 30% of grapes vinified in oak barrels, 70% in Stainless. Biodynamic cultivation. Bright and striking cherry ruby red in the glass, the aromatics tower out the glass, perfumed, seductive, beautifully perfumed with notes of violets, rose petals, pink musk, red cherries, cranberries, and hints of darker saline black currant. The balance and precision are pinpoint, the texture silky soft, powdery, and incredibly elegant. The concentration is intense yet weightless, crystalline, and beautifully red and black fruited, finishing with tangy acids and mouth-watering pithy wild strawberry nuances. Simply astonishing quality.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa Bourgogne Pinot Noir “Vieilles Vignes” 2022, 12.5% Abv.
80% whole bunch used. 30% of grapes vinified in oak barrels, 70% in Stainless. 70% of vines over 60 years old, some of the vines planted in 1908. The aromatics on this beauty are a little more earthy and dark fruited with pink musk, lilac, earthy strawberry, damson plum, and earthy black berry. The wine is impressively structured by the bright vibrant acids that are caressed by silky tannins, before pithy tangy red and black berry fruits, hints of wood spice and a long limestone mineral finish. Once again, beautiful clarity, finesse and purity. Wow.
(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa Marsannay En Leautier Rouge 2022, 13% Abv.
A profoundly enticing aromatics of perfumed violets and lilac, white flowers, intense black cherry and saline earthy bramble berry fruits. The precision on the palate is majestic, crystalline yet lifted, cool and steely yet oh so genteel and seductive. The energy and purity very impressive, the focus, energy and strict structure classical and mineral. Beautifully sappy and mineral, this is a spectacular bottle of Marsannay that defies its appellation status but ably justifies the cult status bestowed on this great estate.
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Maison Lou Dumont Marsannay “En Combereau” 2022, 12% Abv.
An enticing aromatics suggest seductively complex notes of violets, a blue and black berry fruit melange, and subtle soy and umami notes. The mouthfeel is a little more rich, tangy and fruit forward with only 50% wholebunch versus 80% on the Domaine Marsannay. The acids are bright and vibrant, the fruits crunchy and very intense. This offers incredible sweet fruited opulence with precision, brightness and crispness but perhaps with slightly less high toned perfumed intricacy seen in his domaine bottling.
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Maison Lou Dumont Gevrey Chambertin 2022, 12.5% Abv.
Same production as domaine wines with a slightly lower 50% whole bunch portion employed and only 20% barrel fermentation. The aromatics are rich, dark fruited and complex with notes of earthy black berry fruits, pomegranate, blood orange, and a perfume of violets and white flowers, earthy musk and subtle rose petal hints. With Koji working these Gevrey vineyards, this negoc fruited red wine is much closer to his domaine style. The fruit profile is so cool, crystalline and pure, seductively sweet fruited and attractive, offering up a phenomenal quality not generally seen with most Negoc-fruit wine styles. This is a very serious expression of Gevrey that will definitely seduce a new generation of Burgundy drinkers.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa Aligote 2023, Premeaux-Prissy, Burgundy
From over 100 year old vines (1908) from a vineyard near Nuits Saint Georges, fermented and aged in new oak. Shows attractive rich savoury notes of lemon and oak meal biscuit, buttered white toast, with seductive nutty hints. There is great intensity and concentration, vibrant energy and power, finishing with lemon herbs and delicious pithy white citrus. A unique style.
(Wine Safari Score: 91-92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa Marsannay Le Desert Blanc 2023
From grapes sourced from within Les Champ Perdrix. Rich and expressive with toasty savoury aromatics of grilled nuts, waxy lemon peel, honeycomb, oatmeal, and leesy biscuit notes. The stony soils reveal themselves on the linear palate with ginger, lemon balm and limestone minerality. Rich but taut. Simply fabulous.
(Wine Safari Score: 92-93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa Bourgogne La Violette Rouge Vieilles Vignes 2023
A beautifully complex aromatics of saline cassis, piercing red cherry, incense, lipstick perfume and an incredible fragrant intensity with an enticing reductive hint. The acids are deliciously tangy, the tannins taut and stony with an intense limestone minerality, black cherry and black currant intensity. Wonderfully mineral and mouth-wateringly saline. Delicious.
(Wine Safari Score: 91-93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa Gevrey Chambertin La Brunelle 2023
0.1-hectare parcel delivers a broody, slightly reductive hint of smoky black plum, bramble berries, and earthy meaty, savoury black currant aromatics. The precision and focus on the palate are simply superb, revealing sleek, polished limestone mineral tannins, fresh glassy acids and an elegant, sweet berry fruited generosity on the finish. Really attractive style. Total class.
(Wine Safari Score: 93-95/100Greg Sherwood MW)
UK importer Andrew Pavli with Koji Nakada in London recently for a private client tasting dinner.
Maison Lou Dumond Fixin 2023
Another incredibly cool fine and fresh expression with delicate rose petal purity with hints of violets, cranberries, and tart red currant over undertones of limestone minerality. The purity is pinpoint, the palate tightly packed with saline black cherry and picante black currant fruits beautifully framed by polished mineral tannins, finishing with clear linearity and wound spring tension. A delicious glassful of wine.
(Wine Safari Score: 92-93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Maison Lou Dumond Gevrey Chambertin 2023
From the Belle Vigne lieu dit, the aromatics are elegant and delightfully perfumed with rose petals, violets, black berries and subtle saline limestone minerality. The purity is exceptional, with notes of oyster shell, nori seaweed, black cherry and pithy mineral spice. Lovely tension, purity and stony depth slightly out of the norm for this juicy accessible ‘23 vintage. Very classy but super serious too.
(Wine Safari Score: 93-94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa Gevrey Chambertin La Brunelle 2017
Revisiting an archive Gevrey Chambertin La Brunelle 2017 release… shows a beautiful earthy savoury bramble berry depth, blue and black berry fruits, sous bois and hints of blood and iron. The purity and focus is clearly evident, layered with peach pith, wild strawberry, sweet guava, and exotic tart red plum nuances. The tannins are fine grained and spicy, the finish savoury and super sleek, revealing not only the class of the vineyard but also the winemaker.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Lou Dumond and Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa wines are imported exclusively into the UK by Musigny Wines. Email Andrew Pavli to check vintage availability or to request a new vintage allocation:
Marc Soyard is a tall, imposing figure making some of the most exciting wines in the Cotes de Nuits at the moment. Having worked in Vosne Romanée as Jean-Yves Bizot’s right hand man for seven years, Marc was selected by the municipality of Dijon to take over the Domaine de la Cras, a property situated in the hills outside of the city which primarily encompasses vineyards that were largely abandoned to viticulture in the aftermath of phylloxera.
Like the iconic Jean-Yves Bizot, Marc follows a very pure and precise winemaking style that is very much in a non-interventionist mould, with minimal sulphur use up until bottling. With several colleagues, Marc farms several plots from 90-year-old and 45-year-old vines, producing remarkable wines with incredible fruit purity, seductively perfumed aromatics and captivating, polished textural tannins.
Tasting the 2022s with Marc Soyard
The past three vintages have been phenomenally successful for Marc Soyard’s wines as international Burgundy collectors and connoisseurs alike have realised what exquisite wines are being produced. The stunning new 2022 releases bring together improved yields with incredible quality once again, all offered at affordably accessible pricing. Another true rising star of Burgundy to follow closely.
Domaine Marc Soyard Bourgogne Blanc 2022
A serious Bourgogne Blanc that shows a big, rich opulence, bold and expressive on the nose but with a classically taut palate, a restrained stony minerality and delicious layers of crunchy pear fruit, apple purée and sweet caramelised lemons. A whole lot of wine for a Bourgogne. Drink from 2024 to 2028.
(Wine Safari Score: 91+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Marc Soyard Domaine de La Cras “Monopole” 2022
Straight out the blocks, this shows a rich plush nose with a steely brightness, hints of sour plum, tart lemony acids and a spellbinding minerality, finishing with a pithy, crystalline tangerine citrus purity. Very classy.
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Marc Soyard Marsannay Blanc Tercet 2022
Another of Marc Soyard’s classic wines, this 2022 reveals honied, exotic, peachy aromatics before a broad, textured palate loaded with lemon pastille, honey on white toast, quince, and tart plum, finishing super bright, taut and linear with a complex stony undertone. A majestic offering.
(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Marc Soyard Marsannay Rouge Tercet 2022
Always one of the most sought-after wines, the 2022 Marsannay Tercet is deliciously intense, packed with pithy red and black berry fruits, savoury blueberry and hints of black plum. Fabulously plush and fully rounded mid-palate, with soft supple finessed tannins and an impressively mineral, savoury concentration on the finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Marc Soyard Pommard 2022
This bold Pommard is packed full of dark earthy black fruits, plum and mulberry hints. Broad and intense, super vibrant with a notable freshness and zippy energy at its core. Wonderfully rounded and cool, layered with pithy black berry fruits and a stony limestone minerality. Really great focus and precision on display here!
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Marc Soyard Domaine de La Cras Bourgogne Rouge 2022
The aromatics are rich and expressive with earthy, plummy, savoury black fruits. Cool, perfumed and focused, there’s a fine palate tension with a sweet blue / black fruit core, seamless textural harmony and an attractive vanilla pod kiss on the finish. Delicious.
(Wine Safari Score: 91+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Marc Soyard Bourgogne ‘Hermaion’ Rouge 2022
Made from 70-year-old vines, the expressive nose on this special cuvee boasts exotic hints of cherry liquor and black plum with an impressively concentrated palate of black cherry, saline black currant and ripe mulberry. Massive depth, majestically sweet fruited, and a long, pitch perfect, harmonious fleshy length. Very impressive old vine intensity.
(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Marc Soyard Domaine de La Cras Haut Cotes de Nuits Rouge 2022
A very pretty wine with bright aromatics and hints of sour red cherry, black plum and earthy autumnal leafy hints. Medium bodied and rounded, packed full of saline cassis fruit, boiled purple rock candy, black cherry and a hint of back liquorice. Supple, dense and very generous!
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Wines of Marc Soyard are imported into the UK by Burgundy specialist Musigny.Wine.
Jean-Marc Millot based in Nuits-Saint-Georges has been making elegant, understated, classical red Burgundy wines for over two decades and has more recently started to take on a new globally collectable cult wine status. In the last couple of years, Jean-Marc has also taken a step back towards retirement after being joined by his daughter Alix Millot as the family winemaking baton is slowly passed on to the next generation.
I first came across Jean-Marc’s Aligote in 2018 when he sent us a few samples of his 2017 vintage Aligote mixed in alongside his 2016 red En-primeur samples. With the 2020 En-primeur campaign well underway, I took the opportunity to retaste their latest Aligote release as the 2020 vintage is already in bottle and on the retail shelves, making this tiny production wine definitely something that gets the Burg geeks very excited. In 2020, a highly rated quality white wine vintage, the domaine has realised new heights of quality and intensity.
Tasted from a Zalto Universal glass, this delicious young Aligote is ripe and expressive with intense aromatics of cantaloupe melon, green pear, dried herbs and honey on white toast over an intense wet limestone minerality. The palate is every bit as expressive as the nose with a lovely mouth-filling sweet – sour yellow citrus fruit depth embellished with a pithy tangerine peel complexity. The texture is so balanced and harmonious, tangy and fresh, one sip inviting yet another. This has the glycerol mouthfeel of a serious white Burgundy with the alternative, exotic flavours of Aligote. This superb wine exemplifies the upward quality spiral of Aligote and further justifies its growing cult following around the world. Drink now to 2025+.
Working a 9.43 hectare estate, Jean-François Coche took over his father Georges’ Domaine in 1973 to continue the production of some of the most profound and individual whites and reds in the whole of Burgundy. Officially retiring in 2010, he still makes his presence felt alongside his son Raphaël and wife Charline who have taken over winemaking duties.
The Domaine shows meticulous attention to detail with every stage of picking and winemaking, often resulting in very low yields that produce wines with incredible intensity, precision, and individual character. If Domaine de la Romanee-Conti produces the most sought after reds in Burgundy, Domaine Coche-Dury undoubtedly produces the region’s most sought after whites.
The white Chardonnay vineyards cultivated by the estate include 0.34 hectares of Grand Cru Vineyard Corton-Charlemagne which was acquired in 1986 and three holdings of Premier Cru vineyards in Meursault with 0.20 hectares in Perriéres, 0.07 hectares in Caillerets and 0.08 hectares in Genevriéres. Village classified vineyard holdings consist of 0.05 hectares of Chevalières and 0.29 hectares of Rougeots, both in Meursault, plus 0.20 hectares of the Puligny-Montrachet based Les Enseignières vineyard acquired in 1985.
But perhaps few grapes have been as scorned in Burgundy in the last 25 years as Aligoté, often being described as thin, acidic and insipid, capable of nothing better than serving as the historical base for a kir, in which white wine is flavoured with creme de cassis. But many of Burgundy’s most revered names, including cherished estates like Coche-Dury, Leroy, Roulot and Ramonet, Lafarge and d’Angerville, de Villaine, Ligier-Belair and Ponsot, persist in growing Aligoté.
Why? Because, when the grapes are farmed conscientiously with intent and the wines are made with precision and attention to detail, they can be deliciously distinctive, full of the energy, salinity and minerality that are the hallmarks of Aligoté.
Domaine Coche-Dury believes strongly that the white wines of Burgundy should have core nerve, and theirs are never amongst the ripest or highest in alcohol. It is their vibrant acidity, often hidden in their opulence that helps them to age so successfully and predictably and that includes their Aligoté.
Domaine Coche-Dury Bourgogne Aligoté 2011, Burgundy, France
Another beautifully expressive white from Domaine Coche-Dury. Made from Aligoté vines located behind the family home, it has a wonderfully fragrant nose of spiced crunchy green pears, white blossoms, buttered pastries and lime pastille sweets. There are some hallmark Coche-Dury struck match reductive notes but they are certainly finely integrated and secondary to the wine’s citrus fruits, green apple and liquid mineral intensity. The palate feels round and opulently textured in the mouth with a fine lemon / lime cordial acid line cutting cleanly through the lovely lemon curd and salty apple purée concentration. Superb depth, intensity and Aligoté varietal personality. I struggle to think of a better example of this variety. Drink now or cellar for another 3 to 5+ years.
