#giraudon

Explore This Wine: Giraudon Bourgogne Aligoté

The Grape:  Aligoté

Aligoté is an early maturing grape, producing acidic wines that are clean and citrusy.  Aligoté is Burgundy’s “second” white grape in terms of vines under production and also status – Chardonnay is planted much more widely and comprises the more-prestigious Chablis appellations.  Nonetheless, it is coming into its own, and it features in the recently created Bouzeron AOC.

  The Wine:  Bourgogne Aligoté, Giraudon, France  

Giraudon is located in the Chitry area of Burgundy, in the Auxerrois, near to Chablis.  The soils and climate are little different from that of Chablis – whose wines tend to be more expensive.   Grapes are sustainably produced and hand harvested, and aging is done in stainless steel.  The resulting wine is clean and fresh, with great acid and strong mineral. 

  Fun Fact:  The Kimmeridgian soils of Burgundy are considered among the best terroir in the world.  These are found along a ridge that extends through Burgundy, Champagne and the Loire Valley, and into England to Dorset and Kimmeridge, where the ridge gets its name.  These soils are comprised of limestone marl formed during the Late Jurassic period, and are full of fossils.  Reptiles and dinosaurs are well-represented, including ocean predators over 12 meters in length, known as Pliosaurs.  Pliosaurid fossils were first discovered in Kimmeridgian clays, as was the skull of this giant Pliosaurid, Pliosaurus kevani*.

   Available now at Jet Wine Bar for $9/glass.  Try it with guacamole, or Truffle Tremor cheese.

John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), peintre américain, dans son atelier, 41 Boulevard Berthier, XVIIe arrondissement, Paris, France, avec le portrait de Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau), photographie prise en 1884