Last year we welcomed the work of Pierre-Olivier Garcia: one of Burgundy’s most meticulous young talents who hand-destems Pinot Noir to ferment as whole berries — a time-intensive method that yields pure, detailed wines well worth tracking down.

If you missed last year’s landing, you can read more about this impressive grower in our Journal here. 

Pierre's whole lineup is back, but this year we’re turning our attention to a newly introduced part of the range: a set of four site-specific Aligotés that are as delicious as they are diverse.

These cuvées weren’t part of last year’s release; it's an expansion on the almost-obsessive approach unfolding in Pierre's tiny cellar.

Not since the referential work of Sylvain Pataille have we seen a grower so emphatically highlight the grape's capacity to transmit terroir.

And, if there’s someone in Burgundy’s newest generation to explore intricacies around soil and sites, it should be Garcia; he has an unusually high understanding of each terroir as his father Jean-Pierre Garcia is one of Burgundy’s leading geologists and professor in Dijon.

There are four terroirs being explored in this set, all from the golden-hued Aligoté Dorée clone:

Two come from Fixin, and though just 100 meters apart, they’re harvested nearly a month apart:

– Les Champs Tions: 80–100-year-old vines facing northeast, rooted in white calcareous clay and limestone. Fans will remember this from last year’s release —arguably the most lifted of the lineup.

– Les Prielles: Just a football field away, but picked a month earlier. Planted on richer brown clay, this site gives a wine with delicious breadth and immediacy. A site of pure pleasure.

The other two cuvées showcase two of Burgundy’s most defining limestone sites:

– Grand Chaliot: 60-year-old vines near Nuits-Saint-Georges, on limestone of Premeaux — a compact, hard type (sometimes called chailles) often used in building stone. In vineyards, it brings well-drained, mineral-rich soils and wines of quiet power.

– Au Couroy: From 50-year-old vines on brown clay and Comblanchien limestone — the hardest in the Côte, dense and fine-grained. Think of the structure and cut in Antoine Lienhardt’s Comblanchien wines: this is similar in its minerality and drive.

To ensure site is the only differentiator in these four wines, Garcia vinifies them identically.

Pierre in his cellar; photo via Stelle Wine Co.

Fermentations begin with native yeast in tank before the wines are moved to barrel — a consistent mix of new and old Saint-Martin Vosges barrels, alongside two-year-old Stockinger. No sulfur is added until after malolactic fermentation.

What you get, as with the Pinot Noirs below, is an earnest and exacting exploration of place. 

BEAUJOLAIS

2023 Pierre-Olivier Garcia Brouilly 'La Folie', Beaujolais $64

ALIGOTÉ

2023 Pierre-Olivier Garcia Bourgogne Aligoté Les Champs Tions, Burgundy $60

2023 Pierre-Olivier Garcia Bourgogne Aligoté 'Au Couroy', Burgundy $66

2023 Pierre-Olivier Garcia Bourgogne Aligoté 'Les Prielles', Burgundy $66

2023 Pierre-Olivier Garcia Bourgogne Aligoté 'Grand Chaliot', Burgundy $66

PINOT NOIR

2023 Pierre-Olivier Garcia Cote de Nuits-Villages Au Leurey, Burgundy $115

2023 Pierre-Olivier Garcia Nuits-Saint-Georges 'Les Charmois', Côte de Nuits $150

2023 Pierre-Olivier Garcia Nuits-Saint-Georges La Petite Charmotte, Côte de Nuits $150

2023 Pierre-Olivier Garcia Nuits-Saint-Georges 'Les Herbues', Côte de Nuits $150

2023 Pierre-Olivier Garcia Nuits-Saint-Georges 'Les Grandes Vignes', Côte de Nuits $150

2023 Pierre-Olivier Garcia Aloxe-Corton Les Valozieres, Côte de Beaune $195

2023 Pierre-Olivier Garcia Corton Grand Cru 'Les Marechaudes', Côte de Beaune $360

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