Raphaëlle Guyot Aligoté 2022

Location: France, Burgundy

Winemaker: Raphaëlle Guyot

Grapes: Aligoté

Soil: Broken limestone

Winemaking: Directly pressed, lightly decanted, indigenous yeast fermentation, aged in barrel for about 12 months.

From us at M&L: Like us, many of you were enchanted by the beautiful wines of Raphaëlle Guyot last year when we received a tiny bit of her cracking ‘Les Hâtes’ and lip-smacking ‘Les Robinettes’. We have been hoping for more wine from this exceptionally talented young grower who started from scratch in the austere environs of the Yonne.

Think of the Yonne, and Raphaëlle’s wines, as linking the heritage of Burgundy’s northern reaches around Chablis to the Loire’s racy, river water spirit of the Centre. She works a microscopic bit of land - around 2 hectares under vine, but she is planting vineyards and attempting to take on more plots. She also has about 8 hectares for growing cereals, other food crops and livestock.

It is very special that we can offer these new wines from the 2020 vintage as Raphaëlle lost ALL of her fruit to frost in ‘21.

She appears undeterred - part of having a bit more land would be a kind of insurance against total loss as much as an opportunity for her to experiment. She is helping to put the Yonne and Saint-Bris (the only Sauvignon Blanc appellation in Burgundy) back on the viticultural map, and she hopes to plant Pinot Gris soon - another formerly prodigious grape in Burgundy.

Her ethic is apparent in her wines: chiseled and fragrant, with exceptional length and hedonistic drinkability. These are a welcome and precious addition to the shop, and we are thrilled to share them with you!