A friend of mine took a couple of photos of Domaine d’Auvenay’s Aligoté Sous Chatelet the other day, which I thought people might be interested to see. I don’t think there would be much controversy about the fact that this is the best Aligoté produced in Burgundy, distinguished by huge levels of concentration and extract, and these photos help to explain why. Firstly, this is a nice site, overlooking the village of Auxey-Duresses on the hillside (whereas most Aligoté these days is planted on the flat). This is just beyond the limits of the Auxey-Duresses AOC, but a continuation of the same hillside, likely excluded because of its quite northerly exposition.
Then, you can see Leroy’s farming: the soils shallowly cultivated, with high trellising wires and the canopies rolled over on themselves, without hedging. These methods tend to produce smaller berries, with a higher ratio of solids to juice, as well as higher levels of organic acids. It’s a pity that the parcels on either side are not planted as it would be more obvious how high these canopies go. Equally, this site is definitely later than warmer sites along the Côte, and I’m guessing that Lalou’s vines in Meursault for example are a lot bigger at this point in the year.
Thank you William - are the trellising wires as high as in her grand crus in the cote de nuits? That would be crazy, as it’s expensive and time consuming to farm this way. Then again, without checking, I assume the price is as high as a grand cru from the cote de nuits, so it might work out.
Yes, they are! All Leroy’s vines are farmed like that, whatever the appellation.
Wine-Searcher average across all vintages is 652 USD per bottle. So considerably more than many grands crus. The prices have really exploded in the last 18 months for this bottling.
Can’t believe where that pricing has gone. I recall having some stupendous bottles of this at a nice bistro in Cannes a few years back for c. €120 and buying some to take home with me. It was much better than the vast majority of grand cru white burgundies I’ve had! I took one to an aligote dinner at the square where Tom Blach summed it up perfectly: “This wine is disgraceful. Please may I have some more.”
