Bourgogne Aligoté 2023

While 2018 marked Aline Beauné’s first solo vintage, she is no stranger to winemaking in the Côte Chalonnaise. For 15 years, she led winemaking at Château de la Crée in Santenay before deciding to branch out on her own. When the Buxy co-operative’s lease on 5 hectares of her family’s 12-hectare Montagny vineyard ended, she seized the opportunity. Her vines, located in Saint-Vallerin, are split between Aligoté, Bourgogne Blanc, Montagny Villages, Montagny 1er Cru Chazelle and she also has one or two Santenays. Committed to organic conversion, she has eliminated herbicides and chemical rot treatments, instead focusing on preventative care and meticulous vineyard management. She also incorporates select biodynamic preparations to energize the soil. In the cellar, oak is used with restraint—never exceeding 10% new wood in the 1er Cru—allowing the terroir to shine through. The vineyards’ large pebbles retain heat, enhancing bright tropical fruit flavors, while the porous chalk soils contribute to a concentrated yet beautifully integrated acidity. These wines are electric and vibrant in their youth, with exceptional ageing potential. Tasting note: Features Lemon Dragon-fruit Cream soda Acidity Creamy

Pneumatic press, settling during 24 hours at cool temperatures. Fermented in old oak with no batonage where malolactic fermentation occurs. Aged for 11 months without racking, before being aged again in stainless steel tanks for 5 months, before bottling.

Clams, Goats-cheese, Tabouleh

Burgundy is a long and complex strip of regions, sub-regions, villages and vineyards stretching from Dijon in the north to Macon in the south. It producers, along with perhaps one or two other regions, the most sought after wines in the word sometimes selling for tens of thousands of pounds. But for a few exceptions the reds are Pinot Noir and the whites are Chardonnay, but it is the micro-climate, soils and winemaking that makes the wine so interesting, unique and varied in style and quality. It is the most terroir driven region of France and with its continental climate that varies much from year to year, vintage variation in the wines is everything.