Domaine Sylvain Bzikot Aligoté

Aligote is an older Burgundian grape, white and generally giving clear, acidic, fresh, light wines. Legend has it that it was blackcurrant liqueur added to Aligote by Canon Francis Kir, mayor of Dijon, that became the well known aperitif. Sylvain’s grandfather arrived in Burgundy from Poland just before the war to work on the land with barely a penny to his name. Hard work and good fortune paid off. The family managed to acquire 4 hectares of some very prestigious land (Puligny-Montrachet and Puligny-Montrachet 1er cru) as well as further plots in the Bourgogne Aligote region of Burgundy from where they ply their trade. The grapes for this Aligote were organically grown, emphasising minerality, purity and freshness, and ultimately, allowing the grapes to express their terroir. Here’s a master of wine’s opinion: The aromatics are stony and mineral with notes of crushed limestone, white citrus and stone fruits intertwined with dried herbs, dried hay and a fresh fennel leaf complexity. The palate shows wonderful balance and poise, a medium textural weight enlivened by pithy rasping acids, lime peel zest, lemon bon bons and subtle yellow grapefruit nuances on the stony, phenolic, slightly grippy finish. So much energy and an abundance of mouth-watering tangy freshness with a classic wet river pebble stony finish. There are riper and sweeter fruited expressions than this Bzikot Aligote, but my money would be on throwing this into an opulent seafood and oyster dinner extravaganza for full effect. And there you go. He definitely seems to be pretty enthusiastic about it. Time to dabble?