2011 Domaine d'Auvenay Bourgogne Aligoté Sous Chatelet

BY NEAL MARTIN | SEPTEMBER 18, 2023

Let’s get the elephant out of the room. The secondary market price for this “humble” Aligoté is around £3,000 per bottle. That is absurd. That is unbelievable. But that is reality. Someone out there is prepared to pay that amount of money for this wine, motivated by the fact that it was crafted by Lalou Bize-Leroy or perhaps motivated by pecuniary gains. After all, someone in Hong Kong is listing it for a cool £5,000 per bottle. But what is also absurd is how brilliant this wine tasted when served blind by the person who bought it soon after release for less than 1% of the aforementioned price.

The 2011 Bourgogne Aligoté Sous Chatelet retains a youthful silvery gleam. The aromatics leap from the glass, taut and delineated, quite malic and steely for an Aligoté, with a faint scent of what I discern as a garden pond. Perhaps a little algae? The palate has a razor-sharp line of acidity that imparts incredible tension and a sense of energy. With lip-smacking salinity from start to finish, this has laser-beam focus and incredible length. Would I pay the market price for this wine? I wouldn’t, even if I could. Do I think it is an astonishing expression of Aligoté? Without question. 94/Drink 2023-2045.

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