Bourgogne aligoté

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The winegrowing area extends approximately 250 kilometres from north to south and encompasses a collection of more or less scattered vineyard zones across more than 300 communes.
• The vineyards of the Yonne and the Châtillonnais are planted on the cuestas of the Paris Basin, on Upper Jurassic sediments, at altitudes ranging from 150 to 300 metres.
• The Vézelien rests on Lower and Middle Jurassic formations, while the Jovinien rests on Upper Cretaceous formations, with substrates that are mainly marly and locally calcareous.
• From Dijon to the outskirts of Lyon, the vineyards occupy the western edge of the Bresse graben, a tectonic structure that subsided during the Alpine uplift, on Jurassic calcareous or marly substrates, sometimes Triassic.
• In Saône-et-Loire, outcrops of metamorphic and granitic basement rock from the Primary era locally generate acidic soils on which vines are planted, at altitudes between 250 and 400 metres.
• The relatively cool oceanic climate of Burgundy's vineyards is tempered in the south-east by a foehn effect created by the Morvan and Charolais hills acting as a screen, bringing lower humidity and higher temperatures.
• Aligoté prefers clay-limestone soils. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)

• The appellation Bourgogne aligoté was recognised by decree on 31 July 1937, following a period from 1919 to 1930 during which various court rulings progressively defined the framework for production.
• The wine traces its origins to wines known as 'grands ordinaires', intermediary between fine wines and everyday production, from which wines made from the Aligoté grape were gradually distinguished during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
• The Aligoté variety, the only one authorised for this appellation, is an ancient Burgundian grape probably originating from the Hautes Côtes.

• The wines display a colour with pronounced green highlights and an aromatic profile dominated by tangy, acidic notes, revealed by short ageing.
• Wines from plots situated on hillside slopes, with relatively low yields, are characterised wines that show good ageing potential.

• On the relatively heavy foothill soils, particularly in the Côte d'Or, the Aligoté variety produces light wines characterised by good vivacity, archetypes of the refreshing style.
• On hillside plots with less fertile soils, the vine produces more complex wines capable of supporting two to three years of ageing, or even longer.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in France

Sources

• Product specification (BO Agri, PDF)
• Official INAO text (show_texte)
• INAO product entry
• Official trade body site — BIVB