The quality of the wine is crucial for a wine region to gain prestige and become fashionable. Renowned for their flavour, aroma, and complexity, they attract influential consumers and critics. For this, on one hand, the composition of the soil, the climate, the altitude, and the orientation of the vineyards are essential, and on the other, the meticulous work of the viticulturist. Thus, although Côtes d'Auxerre, in the northernmost part of Burgundy (France), has always been overshadowed by its neighbour Chablis, it is currently experiencing a resurgence thanks to the effects of climate change and figures like Édouard Lepesme, a former negotiant in Burgundy and Champagne who, in 2014, decided to follow his dream and, after studying with some of the most prestigious viticulturists in Chablis, purchased 33 acres in the village of Vaux-Auxerre to produce his own wines.
Given that he produces only a small quantity of high-quality wine and sells most of his fruit to other winemakers, Le Domaine d'Edouard Bourgogne Aligoté is a white wine derived from aligoté vines planted in two plots (two hectares) of clay and limestone soil (the same limestone as in Chablis). It is cultivated organically with biodynamic treatments and the harvest is done manually at the optimal moment of ripeness. In the winery, the selected grapes undergo direct pressing and the obtained must ferments with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel tanks without batonnage. Afterwards, the wine ages for 12 months in steel and concrete tanks.
Elegant, authentic, and minimally interventionist, Le Domaine d'Edouard Bourgogne Aligoté is an exceptional white wine that wonderfully reflects the rise of the Burgundy Côtes d'Auxerre wine region. A fresh and complex wine that captures the essence of a unique terroir at its finest.