2017 Benjamin Leroux Bourgogne Aligoté, Burgundy

Leroux has considerable pedigree with this variety, as followers of Domaine Comte Armand will know. This year's wine takes in two sources, with the same 90- to 1oo-year-old, goblet-pruned Aligoté vines from Bouzeron (Côte Chalonnaise) now joined by a parcel of 50-year-old Estate-grown fruit in Meursault's Les Belle Roses. Both vineyards are home to Aligoté Doré, the high-quality, low-yielding cultivar of this variety whose skin takes on an ochre hue when fully ripe. The 2017 was naturally fermented in tank then aged in older barrels. As Leroux notes, when Aligoté is afforded the same luxuries as Chardonnay the results can be impressive.