On a night that centered around Chardonnay, it was a new producer's bottle of Aligoté that gave everyone pause.

In class last week, our friend Michele Peters took us through a lineup of wines from Austria and Burgundy – blurring the lines between two of the world's most collectible regions. And rubbing elbows with both countries' Grand Crus was an unassuming bottle from Burgundy's only appellation solely dedicated to Aligoté: the village of Bouzeron.

A beautiful, naturally made wine that reminded us: the world's best wines don't always come from its most famous grapes.

2023 Sèves 'Les Corderes' Bouzeron, Burgundy

Production is microscopic, with one wine from a single .63 hectare vineyard (and, the highest site in Bouzeron) at an estate just recently established in 2023 by Marie Baltus and Foulques Bertholet. But, their resumés speak for themselves: Viti School in Beaune followed by stretches at Bouchard Pere et Fils, Chanterêves, De Villaine, Claire Naudin, Cassiopée, and Sylvain Pataille.

It's a particularly stony, well-draining site with white marl bedrock that edges Bouzeron's border with Rully and planted in 1981. The grape develops thinner skin here, bringing a more ideal balance of acidity and phenolic complexity.

Marie and Foulques press the grapes whole cluster for several hours, followed by fermentation and aging in a mix of used 228-400L barrels. The wine does go through malo, and after an additional 4 months resting in tank it's bottled unfined, unfiltered, and with minimal SO2.

Cooling, stony fruit that opens up to a more powerful, phenolic expression of Aligoté – well worth a decant for a celebratory table.

Almost translucent Aligoté fruit in their vineyard; photo via @seves_vins