Aligoté is a white

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

used to make dry

white wine White wine is a wine that is Fermentation in winemaking, fermented without undergoing the process of Maceration (wine), maceration, which involves prolonged contact between the juice with the grape skins, seeds, and pulp. The wine color, colou ...

s, especially in the

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

region of France where it was first recorded in the 18th century.winepros.com.au. Since it is tolerant to cold, this variety is also cultivated in Eastern European countries. In 2004, it was the 22nd most planted vine variety in the world at 45,000 hectares (110,000 acres).

Description

Aligoté is used to produce a varietal white wine, and is sometimes included in the blend of Burgundian

sparkling wine Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While it is common to refer to this as champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that word for products exclusively produced in the Champagne ( ...

known as Crémant de Bourgogne. The

varietal A varietal wine is a wine made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000.winepros.com.au. ...

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the ingredients of a food or beverage originated, most often used for the origin of wine grapes. Restrictions other than geographical boundaries, s ...

Bourgogne Aligoté AOC Bourgogne Aligoté is an ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) for white wine produced from the Aligoté grape variety in the region of Burgundy in France. The AOC was created in 1937. Approximately of Burgundy vineyards were devoted to the ...

is made exclusively from Aligoté grapes. Traditionally, the cocktail '' kir'' (also known as ''vin blanc cassis'' in French) is made by adding cassis to an Aligoté wine. In blends, Aligoté adds acidity and structure to other varieties.Aligote a high acid white wine variety
/ref> It is often blended with Sacy for this purpose.J. Robinson ''Vines, Grapes & Wines'' pg 232 Mitchell Beazley 1986 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 of secondary importance in Burgundy which produces a light, primeur-style wine with slightly herbal flavour and rather higher acidity than the Chardonnay.C.Coates ''Encyclopedia of the Wines and Domaines of France'' pg 32 Cassel & Co 2000 The village of Bouzeron is considered to represent the region's finest examples of the variety with the appellation Bouzeron-Aligoté AOC restricting the yields to 45 hl/ ha compared to the Bourgogne Aligoté AOC limited to 60 hl/ha.

Regional production

The grape is the second most popular white grape variety grown in Burgundy after

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, ; ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...

, though it lies a long way behind in terms of planted area, with against . The vines were once inter-planted and field blended with Chardonnay for the benefit of added acidity but the vines have long since been separated.Oz Clarke ''Encyclopedia of Grapes'' pg 35 Harcourt Books 2001 Aligoté often loses territory to more prestigious grape varieties and in some areas is relegated to less productive vineyard sections at the tops and bottoms of the slopes. In Burgundy the grape can be found along the fringe edges of the

Côte-d'Or Côte-d'Or () is a département in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 534,124.

along Route Nationale 74, as well as in

Mâconnais The Mâconnais () district is located in the south of the Burgundy wine region in France, west of the Saône river. It takes its name from the town of Mâcon. It is best known as a source of good value white wines made from the Chardonnay grape; t ...

and Côte Chalonnaise.J. Robinson ''Vines, Grapes & Wines'' pg 179 Mitchell Beazley 1986 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 Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (sometimes abbreviated as AHP; ; ; ), formerly until 1970 known as Basses-Alpes (, ), is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the east, Var to the sou ...

. It has its own AOC's, Bourgogne Aligoté and Bouzeron. Aligoté is also produced in Eastern European countries, including

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

. In Bulgaria, the grape is prized for its blending qualities and high acid; the quantity of Aligoté planted in Bulgaria is more than twice that in the grape's ancestral home of Burgundy. The grape is primarily found in the Stara Zagora Province around Chirpan. In

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, it is used to make

sparkling wines Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While it is common to refer to this as champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that word for products exclusively produced in the Champagne r ...

with

wines being made along the coast of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

around Gelendzhik.C. Fallis ''The Encyclopedic Atlas of Wine'' pg 380 Global Book Publishing 2004 Globally, Aligoté can be found in smaller plantings. It has been produced, though in very small quantity, by Australian wineries. In the United States, the wine is grown in Washington State, since it is resistant to the cold weather, and in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, where it is used mostly for blending. There have also been small, experimental plantings in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. In Canada, the grape is grown in Niagara by Chateau de Charmes.

Origins

DNA fingerprinting DNA profiling (also called DNA fingerprinting and genetic fingerprinting) is the process of determining an individual's deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) characteristics. DNA analysis intended to identify a species, rather than an individual, is cal ...

has found Aligoté to be a crossing of

Pinot noir Pinot noir (), also known as Pinot nero, is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name also refers to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words fo ...

and

Gouais blanc Gouais blanc () or Weißer Heunisch () is a white grape variety that is seldom grown today but is important as the ancestor of many traditional French and German grape varieties. The name ''Gouais'' derives from the old French adjective ‘ ...

, an ancestry consistent with an origin in Burgundy or nearby areas of eastern France.Oz Clarke ''Encyclopedia of Grapes'' pg 112 Harcourt Books 2001 Vitis International Variety Catalogue: Aligote
, accessed on June 18, 2008

Synonyms

Synonyms for Aligoté include Aligotay, Alligotay, Alligoté, Blanc de Troyes, Carcairone blanc, Carcarone, Carchierone, Chaudenet, Chaudenet Gras, Giboudot blanc, Griset blanc, Karkarone Blank, Melon de Jura, Muhranuli, Mukhranudi, Pistone, Plant de Trois, Plant de Trois Raisins, Plant gris, Purion blanc, Selon Molon, Selon Odart, Troyen blanc, Vert blanc.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aligote White wine grape varieties