2017 Marsannay L'Ancestrale

In my main introduction to this report, I pointed towards the raft of fine Bourgogne Aligoté currently produced in the region. Sylvain Pataille has been the leading proponent of its reappraisal – the leading Aligoteur, to use local parlance. The grape variety has long formed the heart of his portfolio, introducing several single-vineyard cuvées from different terroirs in order to explore their nuances. Pataille brims over with energy, conversing in rapid-fire French occasionally difficult to keep up with, all wild ginger hair and bushy beard that, as one Instagram follower remarks, makes him look like Marsannay’s own Seth Rogan. Across his 15 hectares of vines, he follows biodynamics to the letter and has been certified organic since 2008, using whole-cluster fermentation, natural yeasts, modest levels of new oak and minimal sulphur.

“The 2017s were quite easy to vinify and age because everything just went smoothly,” Pataille explained in his small, packed cellar. “The colour came easily, the tannins were not too strong, without any bitterness. We started the harvest around September 3 or 4 and finished on September 22. As usual, with respect to purchased grapes, I ask to harvest them myself [indeed, in many vineyards Pataille undertakes the vineyard husbandry throughout the year in order to maintain control]. There was a small hydric stress, so we stopped the picking between the Chardonnay and the Pinot Noir. I don’t like to harvest when the vines are stressed. Then we will bottle many whites at the beginning of December and the reds early next year.”

Pataille’s 2017 are unstintingly fascinating to taste from barrel, a lesson in what the various and, it must be said, oft-overlooked terroirs of the northern reaches of Côte de Nuits can achieve. His use of whole bunches is judicious; he is a winemaker who knows when he can add 100% stems without obscuring the character of the vineyard. Check out his 2017 Marsannay Les Longeroies and especially his Clos du Roy. Pataille has many tenets and yet he does not seem hidebound by them, maturing a cuvée in some new oak where he feels it beneficial and deftly using large 600-litre size barrels. His Aligotés come highly recommended and in 2017 he offers outstanding examples from such vineyards as Clos du Roy and Charmes Aux Prêtres. The only thing I dislike here? The dark blue labels are difficult to read.