BOURGOGNE ALIGOTÉ > BOUCHARD Ainé & Fils

BOURGOGNE ALIGOTÉ 2017

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2022 2023

Varietal

100% Aligoté.

Tasting notes

Colour: pale gold with deep green glints
Nose: freshness rises with notes of green apples, hawthorn flowers and citrus.
Palate: Lively and crispy with a discreet but enjoyable suppleness. Aromas linger especially lemony notes.

Food and wine pairing

This fresh wine goes perfectly with grilled fish, seafood, cold meats and goat's cheese. It can also be enjoyed on its own as an aperitif, either neat or with 1/5 of crème de Cassis de Bourgogne to make the famous Kir.

Serving suggestions

Serve ideally between 10 and 12°C / 50-54°F.

Ageing potential

Can be kept from 3 to 4 years, but the freshness of the Aligoté grapes is best appreciated while still young.

Origins

The Bourgogne Aligoté regional appellation represents exclusively white wines made from the Aligoté grape variety, with grapes harvested throughout the Bourgogne appellation area.

Known in Burgundy since the 17th century, Aligoté is an original grape variety that is not widely grown anywhere else in the world. It covers around 1,590 hectares of vineyards throughout the region, from the Yonne in the north to the Rhône in the south, via the Côte d'Or and the Saône et Loire (Côte Chalonnaise, Mâconnais).

Aligoté is a very well-known grape variety in Burgundy, and for a long time it was only associated with its use in making Kir (an equally famous drink made from Burgundy aligoté and crème de cassis, our region's blackcurrant liqueur). But this variety is increasingly seen as a quality grape and treated as such (low yields, vinification in oak barrels, etc.).

Vinification and maturing

The grapes were vinified in low-temperature stainless steel tanks so that we keep all the freshness and tension of the varietal in the wine.
Then, the wine was aged on its lees in stainless steel tanks for about 6 months in order to get a little roundness in the wine and develop more complexity.

Vintage : 2017

In 2017, Burgundy succeed at both quality and quantity levels.

After many vintages impacted by the climatic variation, Bouchard Ainé & Fils recover with the 2017 vintage, a very satisfactory harvest. Not only because the volumes will allow to supply the markets but also because the wines already offer the desire to discover this very elegant vintage.

After spending the winter building up their strength, the vines profited fully from a very warm spring, with budburst in early April ensuring a head start in terms of the growth cycle that was maintained right up to the harvest. The plants progressed from stage to stage free from hindrance, and by mid-June, were flowering before rapid fruit set. An early vintage was confirmed.

During the summer, a few spells of heatwave alternated with more mixed weather.

However, ripening continued at a good pace and by the end of August, the first grapes were being picked, two weeks ahead of average. Harvesting continued until mid-September as each plot reached peak maturity.

Harvest started on the first week of September in Burgundy and ended on September the 30th in the late parcels. The grapes were in exceptional health and required virtually no sorting. Everyone was very enthusiastic about this fabulous fruit, its peak ripeness, and the volumes produced.