Domaine de Villaine Aligote Bouzeron 2023
LESS IS MORE WINESGrape: Aligote
Vintage: 2023
Type: White
Aubert de Villaine deserves the accolades he receives. He is a reluctant hero, an unlikely trait in a man of such accomplishment, intellect, and inherent sense of noblesse. Heir to one of the most enviable wine legacies of all time, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, the young Aubert was more interested in literature and law than wine. After spending time in New York working for an importer of Burgundian wines, he finally returned home in the mid-nineteen sixties to assume his role as co-director of DRC.
The de Villaines farm three appellations within the Côte Chalonaise, namely Bouzeron (Aligoté), Rully (Chardonnay and Pinot Noir) and Mercurey (Pinot Noir). Their single-vineyard parcels are stunning examples of what this complex and amazing terroir can yield. Though their wines are quite enjoyable young, their ability to age well is what one might expect from a master such as de Villaine.
Pétrichor is the pleasant odor that teems after a rainfall in the forest, that smell of fresh rain interacting with foliage and rocks. Scientists have studied the subject and found humans have an instinctual attraction to this perfume, an acknowledgment of the vitality of rain for our survival. It’s really no surprise that Bouzeron of all wines would have this characteristic, as we are dealing with old vines of ancient strains of Aligoté Doré grapes, grown on pristine slopes untouched by development, surrounded by forests. White flowers, some citrus, a touch of cream, and pétrichor abound.