Domaine Regnard - Aligoté, Bourgogne, France (2021)

Created in the 1940’s, the Regnard family now operates 12 hectares using environmentally friendly wine growing methods. Voted best young winemaker in the Côte de Beaune, the talented Florian Regnard is producing great juice while redefining the boundaries of winemaking. 

Vegan and sustainably farmed. 4 months in stainless steel vats + 6 months in oak barrels (no new barrels)+ re-assembly in stainless steel vats 2 months before bottling.

The Burgundians won’t soon forget 2021, a year characterised by seemingly endless setbacks and challenges. It all began with catastrophic frost, followed by regular rain, localised hail, downy and powdery mildew and, finally, late-season rain (and, consequently, botrytis). The only saving grace was the warm and dry weather in late August and September that nudged the grapes to ripeness. The verdict on the whites has always been positive. While the earlier-budding Chardonnay suffered greater frost damage, the remaining grapes ripened uniformly. Volumes, however, are painfully low. Many cuvées are missing because there weren’t enough grapes to make them; losses of over 70% were not uncommon. The reds are perhaps the bigger success story. They seemed rather light and austere before barrel ageing but have undergone an extraordinary transformation – filling out and gaining significant weight and texture. Again, volumes are tiny, although some more fortunate areas yielded a crop in line with 2020.