Non-commercial post: I am writing about a grower whose wines I imported for 40+ years; my old company still sells them.
In 1981 I made my first wine-buying trip to France. The owner of the store I worked for gave me a shopping list. He wanted 50 cases of a Bourgogne Rouge. I visited 8 growers. That was easy: My second favorite, Michel Goubard, was also the second cheapest.
The next year I went back and was invited for dinner. I asked what else they made. They had a few rows each of Aligote, Chardonnay and Gamay. The Aligote was sold to stores, bars and consumers for Kir, a house white or breakfast at the bar. The Gamay was blended with Pinot for Pisse-Tout-Grains. The Chardonnay was an experiment as they thought their terroir was good and there would be a market. I thought the other wines were very good, but I didn’t have authorization to buy.
At that time the entire Domaine was ~30 acres. Today there are over 90, and Michel’s sons, Vincent (in the vineyard) and Pierre-Francois (in the cellar) are growing fine wines that are sold at very reasonable prices. Ex-cellar prices range from €6 to €18 (for a 1er Cru Givry).
As soon as I started my business, I started to import the Bourgogne Blanc Cote Chalonnaise. Just recently my old company has started to import the Aligote as well, to cash in on the world-wide boom in Aligote sales 
. The Chardonnay, at least, ages very well. At my ‘Good Old Stuff’ tasting in 2024 I opened my last bottle of the 2015. It was lovely if not great, maintained a pale straw color, fresh aromas and surprising length.
The other day I was invited to dinner at Bonnie and Chuck’s. Bonnie drinks primarily white wine, admits to knowing nothing about it. Chuck drinks more red, has some knowledge. Bonnie’s daughter and son-in-law are beer drinkers, but happily drink wine put in front of them. I decided to do a very informal tasting, brown-bagged the 2022s of Goubard’s Bourgogne Blanc and Aligote.
The vineyards are contiguous, but the Bourgogne Blanc is higher on the slope of Montavril, with chalky soil. The Aligote, lower down, is chalk mixed with clay. Winemaking is essentially identical, low temperature stainless fermentation, brief time on the lees before racking, spring bottling.
The results of the tasting were interesting. Bonnie, who tends to like softer whites, actually preferred the Aligote, while Chuck liked the Chardonnay. Bonnie’s daughter also liked the Chardonnay, her son-in-law thought they were of equal quality. I preferred the Aligote.
The Chardonnay offered surprisingly complex aromas and flavors of apple, pear, leaf and lime. There was good breadth and better than adequate acidity. The Aligote to me was much fuller in body, more powerful, with slightly better acidity. There were mineral (flint) notes to go along with some nice fruit and something a little flowery.
I think vine age had a lot to do with the power and intensity of the Aligote. The average planting date of their 4 acres is 1965! The average date for the 14 acres of Chardonnay is 1990. Vincent considers his clones of Aligote to be dore, but as they were all planted before he was born, that’s just based on observation of his vines and grapes.
At a time when wine consumption is dropping, I am glad to see this Domaine doing well. The Goubard family has been growing wine in the village of Saint Desert (strange name for a wine village) since 1600! Michel passed away last year at the age of 90 (he worked in the vineyards until he was 88). His sons and their families work hard and earn a good living. Their wines have been staples at my table for over 4 decades.
