Aligoté
Burgundy, France
Burgundy's 'other' white grape, overshadowed by Chardonnay but capable of crisp, mineral, high-acid wines, famously mixed with crème de cassis to make Kir.
Sensory profile
Characteristics
Flavor & aroma
At a glance
Production facts
Prevalence
Niche
Climate
Cool climate
Ripening
Early season
Wine styles
Still
Where it's grown
Geography
Shaded areas are the state, province or département(s) containing each region, so they run wider than the appellations themselves.
France
Burgundy (Bouzeron)
Bouzeron is the only village appellation devoted to the grape, producing increasingly serious varietal wines.
Background
Origin & History
Another offspring of the Pinot Noir and Gouais Blanc crossing, Aligoté has been grown in Burgundy for centuries, typically relegated to lesser sites than Chardonnay and regarded as a simple, high-acid everyday white. Its most famous cultural moment came via a cocktail rather than a great vineyard: mixed with crème de cassis, it forms the aperitif Kir, popularized in the mid-20th century by Félix Kir, the wartime resistance hero and long-serving mayor of Dijon.
In recent decades a growing number of quality-focused Burgundy producers have taken Aligoté more seriously as a varietal wine in its own right, particularly around the village of Bouzeron in the Côte Chalonnaise, which in 1998 became the only village appellation devoted to the grape — a modest but meaningful recognition for a long-underestimated variety.
Lineage
Family tree
Ancestry above, descendants below. Click a related grape to explore its own lineage.