About Aligoté Wine

October 13, 2010

Philippines Wine Shop Clark Wine Center is pleased to share with you articles, news and information about wine, wine events, wine tasting and other topics related to wine and the appreciation of wine.

Aligote 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 45,000 160 hectares 110,000 acres , it was the 22nd most planted vine variety in the world in 2004. 1 The wine was first recorded in Burgundy in the 18th century.

Aligot is used to produce a varietal white wine, and can be used in the blend of Burgundy’s sparkling wine, called Cr mant de Bourgogne. In the varietal appellation Bourgogne Aligot AOC up to 15 Chardonnay grapes may be blended in. 3 Traditionally, the cocktail kir also known as vin blanc cassis in French is made by adding cassis to an Aligot white wine.

In Burgundy, where it often loses land to more prestigious grape varieties, Aligot is often planted only in the poorer vineyard sites at the tops and bottoms of the slopes. 2 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. 3 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. 4 The village of Bouzeron which is considered to represent the region’s finest examples of the variety 3 with the appellation Bouzeron-Aligot AOC restricting the yields to 45 hl ha compared to the Bourgogne Aligot AOC limited to 60 hl ha.

Aligot adds acidity and structure to other varieties when blended. 5 The grape is often blended with Sacy to complement its acidity.

The grape is the second most popular white grape variety grown in Burgundy after Chardonnay, though it lies a long way behind in terms of planted area, with 1,700 160 hectares 4,200 acres 7 against 12,800 160 hectares 32,000 acres . 8 The vines were once inter-planted and field blended with Chardonnay for the benefit of its added acidity but the vines have long since been separated. 9 In Burgundy the grape can be found along the fringe edges of the C te-d’Or along Route Nationale 74. It can also be found in M connais and C te Chalonnaise. 10 There are also small plantings just east of the Rhone Valley around the city Die and in the commune of Pierrevert in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Communes of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department. 9 It has its own AOC, Bourgogne Aligot . Aligot is also produced in Eastern Europe 5 , Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova. In Bulgaria, the grape is prized for its blending qualities and high acid with more than double the quantity planted here than in the grape’s ancestral home of Burgundy. 10 . The grape is primarily found in the Stara Zagora Province around Chirpan. 10 In Russia it is used to make sparkling wines 5 with varietal wines being made along the coast of the Black Sea around Gelendzhik. 11 Aligot has also been produced, although in very small quantity, by Australian wineries. 5 The wine is also grown in Washington State where it is resistant to the cold weather. The grape is also used in California, mostly for blending. The Aligot grape is also known by the names Blanc de Troyes, Vert Blanc, Chaudenet Gris, and Plant gris. 12 There have been small, experimental plantings in Chile.

DNA fingerprinting has found Aligot to be a crossing of Pinot Noir and Gouais Blanc, which is an ancestry which is consistent with an origin in Burgundy or nearby areas of eastern France.

Source: http://www.iscanmyfood.com/hd/index.php?t=Aligote

Clark Wine Center was built in 2003 by Hong Kong-based Yats International Leisure Philippines to become the largest wine shop in Philippines supplying Asia’s wine lovers with fine vintage wines at attractive prices. Today, this wine shop in Clark Philippines offers over 2000 selections of fine wines from all major wine regions in the world. As a leading wine supplier in Philippines, Pampanga’s Clark Wine Center offers an incomparable breadth of vintages, wines from back vintages spanning over 50 years. Clark Wine Center is located in Pampanga Clark Freeport Zone adjacent to Angeles City, just 25 minutes from Subic and 45 minutes from Manila.

Wines from Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhone, Loire, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Alsace, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, South Africa, Chile and Argentina etc. are well represented in this Clark Wine Shop.

For more information, email Wine@Yats-International.com or visit http://www.ClarkWineCenter.com