Domaine Rougeot Bourgogne Aligoté AOC 'Les Plumes' 2022

Eighth generation winemaker Pierre-Henri Rougeot first worked in his 20s as an export manager for a cooperage, traveling throughout France to sell barrels. In the course of his travels for sales, he became friends with a bunch of natural winemakers in the Loire, Languedoc, and Beaujolais, and soon became a convert to the natural winemaking philosophy. Domaine Rougeot was founded in the 70s in the center of the village of Meursault, and today has 12.5 hectares of vines in total, with the vast majority located in Meursault. In 2010 Pierre-Henri took over the winemaking from his father, who still directs the work in the vineyards, transitioning to certified organic farming in 2014 and now working biodynamically as well. Those decades of experience and attention to vineyard care, coupled with Pierre-Henri’s low intervention winemaking in the cellar, result in some stunning, serious bottlings. This organic aligoté comes from the ‘Les Plumes’ lieu dit, planted in 1974 in the plains below the village of Meursault. Although the aligoté grape often plays second fiddle to chardonnay, at Rougeot aligoté is taken as seriously as any other wine from the domaine. ‘Les Plumes’ is fermented in concrete tanks and aged in neutral barrel, then bottled with zero added sulfur. Racy and elegant: crisp green apple and zesty citrus achieve liftoff over a flinty mineral core that delivers texture and character on a finish that goes on for ages. Organically grown, low-intervention/natural wine, vegan.