2022 Bouzeron Blanc

The titular winemaker was away when I dropped in at their rather cozy cellar in Marsannay, but his brother Laurent, who incidentally makes wine under his own name, was on hand. He guided me through their wide range based around Aligoté, Pataille being the vanguard of the Les Aligoteur movement, not to mention his enticing array of site-specific Marsannay cuvées. Laurent Pataille looks much like his brother with those thick curly locks, initially more taciturn than Sylvain but soon chatting away. These are low-intervention wines with minimal and occasionally no use of sulfur. Many are aged for the first year in wooden foudres before being racked into used barrels. Pataille could not remember the exact picking date, except that harvest started in early September. I found a couple of cuvées just a little too natural for my liking, which set a few alarm bells ringing, while others were exceptionally fine and remain excellent value-for-money to boot.