Bourgogne Aligoté Les Auvonnes Au Pépé
At a Glance
- Size: 0.10 ha (0.25 ac)
- Variety: Aligoté Doré
- Vine Age: Planted in the 1930s
- Terroir: Slope facing east, 250-meters elevation, clay and marl soils with many small limestone rocks
- Viticulture: Certified organic, biodynamic methods
- Vinification: Vertical press, indigenous yeast fermentation. Aged for 12 months in older barrels and demi-muids, minimal sulfur additions only at bottling.
Additional Info
Etymology: Grandpa’s Auvonnes.
Auvonne, or Auvone, is the regional dialect for avoine, meaning oats, from the Latin AVENA, meaning wild oats. Auvonnes is therefore a place where oats used to be grown. (Marie-Hélène Landrieu-Lussigny.)
Pépé is informal French for grandfather or old man. This vineyard belonged to Sylvain’s grandfather. Unlike Auvonnes, Pépé is not part of the name of the lieu-dit.
This vineyard used to belong to Pataille's grandfather, hence the Pépé in the cuvée title.
Average annual production is only 25 cases.
Sylvain notes the characteristic reductive minerality despite the change in location, grape, and bedrock. He believes this minerality is so beautiful that it would be a shame to make red wine on this terroir.