Wine of the Month - June 2022

Aligoté, Burgundy's other white wine

Unlike chardonnay, the more famous Burgundian white varietal, Aligoté is hard to find.  For a long time, the Aligoté grape suffered from being compared to Chardonnay, despite sometimes being planted alongside it in certain prestigious appellations such as Corton-Charlemagne and Montrachet. It flourished on the best hillsides, producing bigger, more plentiful grapes than the Chardonnay varietal.  Aligoté was grown widely in Burgundy before phylloxera, the disease that wiped out most vineyards in France during the late 19th century.  While French vines grafted onto disease-resistant American rootstock solved that problem, it marked the beginning of the decline of Aligoté, a natural cross between Pinot Noir and the seldom-seen Gouais Blanc.

Still, die-hard Burgundian winemakers and wine lovers continue to grow and seek out Aligoté.  Some prominent family growers love their hillside Aligoté, especially from old vines, and continue to produce the all but forgotten variety.  Even the famed Madame Lalou Bize-Leroy, the co-owner of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC), produces an Aligoté under her own label, if you can find it.  Aligoté fans are enchanted by the wine’s lightly floral aromas, the combination of citrus fruitiness and flinty minerality and, above all, its vivid, mouthwatering acidity. It can also age for several years.  In this month's selection, we present you the 2019 vintage Aligoté by the talented producer, Olivier Morin, whose family has been making wine in Burgundy since the 17th century.

Domaine de Chevalier is run by Olivier Bernard, a man with a long family legacy entrenched in the Bordeaux wine trade.  Gregarious and ever helpful, Mr. Bernard served two terms as the President of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux (commonly known as UGCB), the trade organization that represents all of Bordeaux's noteworthy wine producers.

Château Haut-Batailley is a Fifth Growth located in Pauillac.  In 2017, Château Haut-Batailley was acquired by the legendary Cazes family, owners of the ubiquitous and second-to-none estate, Château Lynch Bages. Before Château Haut-Batailley was acquired by the Cazes family it was skillfully managed by Francois Borie. Quality has been steadily on the rise since the mid 2000s and scores typically hover in the low 90s.  Yet despite the accolades, pricing for this Pauillac gem remains some of the most affordable within the expensively priced Pauillac appellation.  For wine connoisseurs who search for excellent producers that overdeliver in terms of value, look no further than Château Haut-Batailley.

Located in enviable proxmity to Lafite and Mouton, Château Clerc Milon is one of the three estates of the Mouton Rothschild empire, the other two being Mouton and d'Armailhac.  Pastourelles is a second label initially only sold to the restaurant trade.  Its popularity among wine connoisseurs has led the chateau to release to the general public in recent years, although vintages older than 2015 are virtually impossible to find.

Domaine de Chevalier 2014 - "The 2014 Domaine de Chevalier has a wonderful bouquet with pure blackberry, raspberry coulis and iodine-tinged aromas that seem to envelop the senses. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, superb acidity and a sense of symmetry that is uncommon in the 2014 vintage. This is a sophisticated, precise wine from Olivier Bernard that could be one of top wines of the vintage. There is an approachability to this Domaine de Chevalier, which you do not always find, however I would be inclined to give this 3-4 years in bottle." - Neal Martin, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (3/31/2017, Interim Issue), Ratings: 93, Drink: 2021-2045

Château Haut-Batailley 2014 - "The 2014 Haut Batailley has a very subtle bouquet, one that bided its time in the glass and then unfolded with scents of blackberry, briary, pencil box and light graphite scents. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, moderate weight, classic and perhaps conservative in style. Yet the harmony is just wonderful and it slips down the throat almost too easily. As such, I feel this is a more approachable Haut-Batailley compared to other vintages, yet it has the body to reward three of four years of bottle age." - Neal Martin, The Wine Advocate (3/31/2017, Interim Issue), Rating: 92, Drink from: 2020-2035

Pastourelles de Clerc Milon 2015 - "Composed of 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, the 2015 Pastourelle de Clerc Milon is a second wine of Clerc Milon, representing an earlier drinking style designed specifically for the on-trade. It is usually released a bit later (after two to three years’ aging) by the Chateau in order to be consumed upon release. Medium garnet-purple colored, the 2015 Pastourelle de Clerc Milon features an open-knit, earthy/meaty nose of damp soil, smoked meats and new leather with a core of warm red currants and blackberries plus a touch of garrigue. Medium-bodied, it reveals plenty of savory layers with a chewy frame and lively lift to the finish." - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Advocate (2/21/2018), Ratings: 90, Drink: 2019-2030