2020 Domaine Derain Bourgogne Aligoté

WINEMAKER: Julien Altaber & Carole Schwab
REGION: Burgundy, FR
VARIETAL: Aligoté
VITICULTURE: Certified Biodynamic

"Aligoté is a particular favourite of ours. We love wines made from this grape that is beloved by Burgundians – many of whom consume it daily. The wines range from the rustic to the ethereal. It is unfiltered so the wine can be cloudy in the glass. It is fermented with native yeasts so it is alive and vibrant and completely compelling. The very old vines for this wine are on the Puligny-Montrachet plains. A lovely wine for summer drinking." - Living Wines

Dominique Derain started his career making wine barrels but decided, instead, to study winemaking in Beaune. In 1988 he and his wife Catherine purchased 5.5 hectares of vineyards in Saint-Aubin just south of Beaune and began tending the vines biodynamically and making their wines in a non-interventionist way as well.

A few years ago, Dominique officially retired. His long time assistant Julien Altaber and his partner, Carole Schwab (who also worked for Dominique managing the administration) bought the domaine from him. Julien, in addition to working for Dominique, had started his own domaine (Sextant) some years before, initially making his own wine in Dominique’s cellar, so it was a natural changing of the guard.