Wine Grapes: Aligoté

Aligoté is a white grape used to make dry white wines in the Burgundy region of France, and which also has significant plantings in much of Eastern Europe including Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Bulgaria. With 45,000 hectares (110,000 acres), it was the 22nd most planted vine variety in the world in 2004. The wine was first recorded in Burgundy in the 18th century

Aligoté is used to produce a varietal white wine, and can be used in the blend of Burgundy's sparkling wine, called Crémant de Bourgogne. In the varietal appellation Bourgogne Aligoté AOC up to 15% Chardonnay grapes may be blended in. Traditionally, the cocktail kir (also known as vin blanc cassis in French) is made by adding cassis to an Aligoté white wine.

In Burgundy, where it often loses land to more prestigious grape varieties, Aligoté is often planted only in the poorer vineyard sites at the tops and bottoms of the slopes.This variety is more tolerant to the cold. The grape ripens early with moderate yields and produces wines high in acidity that can be drunk young. Its aroma includes elements of apples and lemons.Clive Coates says it is a variety very much of secondary importance in Burgundy which produces a light, primeur-style wine with slightly herbal flavour and rather higher acidity than the Chardonnay. The village of Bouzeron which is considered to represent the region's finest examples of the variety[3] with the appellation Bouzeron-Aligoté AOC restricting the yields to 45 hl/ha compared to the Bourgogne Aligoté AOC limited to 60 hl/ha.Aligoté adds acidity and structure to other varieties when blended. The grape is often blended with Sacy to complement its acidity.