Bourgogne Aligoté, Edouard Delaunay, 2020

Over the hills and far away to the Haut Côtes….

And a kaleidoscopic tasting with Laurent Delaunay at the family’s beautiful Château de Charmont. 28 wines tried – from Bourgogne Aligoté (absolutely outstanding – who needs Chardonnay?!?) right through to Echezeaux and Clos Vougeot, with many highlights across appellations and crus.

The choice of parcels, and pragmatic approach – where every cuvée is treated individually without a set formula for quantity of new oak, or amount of whole bunches used etc, allows each wine to offer a true and deeply satisfying expression of the terroirs.

Whilst the strength in Nuits Saint Georges is especially noticeable, there are some absolute gems throughout – and the consistent balance of succulence and focus, sweetness and salinity, authenticity and sophistication shows that there are great things ahead for Maison Delaunay. Watch out for Laurent picking some of his top under the radar wines for us and elsewhere explaining why we should embrace his passion for Nuits Saint Georges…

"From the Hautes Cotes, on the other side of the hill from the Delaunay’s family home Château de Charmont, this white marl and limestone rich vineyard is one of the highest in Burgundy at 450metres and is named to honour Laurent's old oenology teacher Professor Feuillat. The clone is Aligote doré – which tends to small, tight bunches and the grapes are fermented in old oak barrels with plenty of lees stirring to give extra richness. We loved the 2019 vintage so much we crowdfunded the whole production as our club white Burgundy barrels and the 2020 is even more impressive. A nose of white flowers, green almond, flint, and hay, leads to an intense palate with a supple sweet core of candied limes and white stone fruit balanced by leesy acidity and freshness, that, typical for 2020 shows more concentration that the previous vintage. Professor Feuillat continues to set an impressive benchmark for Aligoté."
Tom Harrow, Wine Guru