Domaine Pierre-Olivier Garcia, Les Champs Tions, Bourgogne Aligote 2022 - 75cl

A quick note first: despite how it may be filed, this is a white wine. Aligoté is Burgundy's other white grape, long overshadowed by Chardonnay, and in the right hands — old vines, a good site, a careful cellar — it makes something taut, mineral and genuinely serious. Pierre-Olivier Garcia's Les Champs Tions is one of the wines making the case.

Garcia is a young grower based in Fixin, at the northern end of the Côte de Nuits, and this cuvée comes from a single lieu-dit of very old Aligoté vines. Age matters here: older vines give lower yields and more concentration, which is exactly what this often-thin grape needs. The wine is raised in old wood — seasoned barrels that add texture but no oak flavour — resting on its fine lees with only gentle stirring. That's what gives it weight without heaviness.

Pour it and you get a pale, bright white. The nose is expressive and precise: fresh apple, lemon zest, white flowers, a dusting of white pepper and a clear chalky minerality. The palate is where the old vines show — richly textured, with layers of apple and white peach held by bright, mouth-watering acidity, finishing long. This is Aligoté doing a very good impression of a smart village white, at a fraction of the price. Drink it well chilled as an aperitif, or bring it to the table.

How to Serve

Serve well chilled at 8–10°C in a white wine glass; let it warm a couple of degrees in the glass and the texture and orchard fruit expand. No decanting needed. If you have a bottle or two, a year or two more in the cellar will only add.

Where to Drink It

Noble Rot, natural home for characterful white Burgundy. J Sheekey, alongside oysters and shellfish. The Wolseley, as a smart glass to open a long lunch.

Food Pairings

The classic move is Burgundian: a dozen oysters, or snails in garlic butter where the acidity cuts the richness. It's also lovely with a goat's cheese salad, the wine's citrus lift echoing the cheese's tang.