A. Et P. De Villaine, Bouzeron, 2005

This domaine is as close as most of us will get to Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, Aubert Villaine being co-owner of that legendary domaine. De Villaine is Aubert's project in the Cote Chalonnaise and as you read through his site, it is apparent that the variety held in greatest esteem in the Domaine is Aligote, a variety not highly touted elsewhere in Burgundy. Most textbooks I've read give Villaine great credit for helping elevate Bouzeron into the only AOC dedicated to Aligote and the domaine's best terroirs in Bouzeron are planted with Aligote. Furthernore, the Domaine claims Aligote has an aging potential of up to 10 years.

But what's in the bottle? Well, not the easiest wine in the world to write a note for.

Drunk over three hours. Closed and unimpressive at first, vague and distant fruit and spices on the nose, steely and thin on the palate. Then there are notes of citrus and melons and a minerality that is hard to pin down, I'd perhaps call it perfumed talc. It's got a Chablis steeliness, though with a somewhat different texture. Fills up aromatically, with hints of toast, and grows easier and fatter on the palate as well, after an early, uncomfortably lean greeness that never quite evolves away. Very raw and incomplete but you have to think a wine that takes so long to open has some potential and there's certainly enough acidity for some cellaring potential, despite the fruit being so dormant right now. I'd open my second bottle in 2-3 years but I'm tempted to buy a third to test the Domaine's claims for mid term cellarbility.

Other Aligotes in Israel

There's somewhat of a surge in Aligote imports into Israel. Tomer Gal and Hadas Ezer's Burgundy Wine Collection is importing the de Villaine as well as Aligote from Domaines d'Auvenay (which sold out within days for the second straight year), Ramonet and Ponsot (whose Aligote comes from a Morey-St-Denis 1er cru vineyard). In addition, Wine Route is importing Jadot's version, which I don't think claims to come from vineyards as good as BWC's imports.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hello,
It would be great if you could give a link to the places where you buy these wines that you write about (if availiable).
2GrandCru said…
I've added a link to Tomer Gal's email for the Bouzeron as well as the other Aligotes, except the Jadot which was available at the Wine Route chain as of a few months ago.
Joe said…
I just noticed your de Villaine Bouzeron write ups. Totally agree with the closed aspect (I opened a second bottle a few weeks after the first and initially couldn't understand why I liked it so much the last time), and it was very strange how warm this white had to get to really open up. I had that hint of Chablis as well. I have a few more bottles to test that claim of aging potential...