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Louis Jadot (Domaine Gagey), Bouzeron 2017
WhiteFrance2017
By Daniel Min · Tasted 2019-11-26 · Published 2026-09-13 · Updated 2026-09-13
At a glance
In one line
1.0/5 — lower than Vivino's 4.0 average · world avg price US$24 · Bouzeron is the only village in Burgundy with an AOC dedicated solely to the Aligoté grape.
A critic entry listed on Vivino, 88 (range 86–88, source unnamed, Jan 2019)
Market note: Bouzeron is the only village in Burgundy elevated to its own AOC on the strength of Aligoté alone, and Domaine A. & P. de Villaine — founded by Aubert de Villaine, co-owner of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, and his wife Pamela — is widely credited with putting the village on the map as Aligoté's finest terroir. Domaine Gagey is an estate vineyard owned by the Gagey family (André Gagey, then Pierre-Henry Gagey), the family that has long run Maison Louis Jadot, and it is sold under the Jadot label.
Father's note — Daniel Min
Original author of the notes“Chardonnay without features.”
What I learned today: you don't erase Father's wrong line, you stick a note beside it.
The bar is closed on Sundays. I spent all afternoon at the window desk writing year-end cards. The old lady who's a regular at Mom's bakery, the people on my team at work, Master Seo, Minjae. Whenever I got stuck, I peeled myself a slice of apple. One card, one slice.
Peeling the third slice, my hand stopped. A faint apple scent from the peel, a little lemon, a coolness like wet stone. And then nothing followed. The scent just stopped, right there.
That stop opened an evening. A scent always brings its date along. Late autumn when I was twenty-one, a Tuesday evening under a low, grey sky. Father poured a white from a cloth-wrapped bottle. Apple, lemon, stone. I thought it was fine. Father took one sip, set his glass down, and put the bottle back in the refrigerator door. There was no second glass. I don't know the bottle's name.
In the evening I opened that day's notebook. "Chardonnay without features." One star. The lowest star in Father's notes. Honestly, I was a little disappointed. My glass that day hadn't been that bad. The bottle was Louis Jadot Bouzeron. I texted Master Seo, and the reply came: "Not Chardonnay. Aligoté." I stuck a wine-name Post-it into the notebook. I don't correct Father's sentences. I only wrote "Aligoté" small in the corner of the Post-it.
When I'd finished the cards, one was left over. The one I'd written for Father didn't go into an envelope; I tucked it between the notebook's pages. What I learned today: you don't erase Father's wrong line, you stick a note beside it.
What this wine is
Bouzeron sits at the northern tip of the Côte Chalonnaise, a small village with none of the name recognition of Meursault or Montrachet. And yet it's the only place in Burgundy that carries a village-level AOC named for a single grape: Aligoté. It started as 'Bourgogne Aligoté de Bouzeron' in 1979 and became the standalone 'Bouzeron AOC' in 1998. The man behind that promotion was Aubert de Villaine, co-owner of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. With his wife Pamela he founded Domaine A. & P. de Villaine in Bouzeron and put the village on Burgundy's map not with Chardonnay, the grape white Burgundy is famous for, but with Aligoté.
Domaine Gagey is an estate vineyard within Maison Louis Jadot, owned by the Gagey family — André Gagey and later Pierre-Henry Gagey — who have long led the house, and it's bottled and sold under the Jadot label. This is 100% Aligoté at 12.5% alcohol; Bouzeron's signature move is keeping yields low to push up acidity and flavor concentration. The producer's note: "Well structured, with hints of peaches. The acidity is light, this wine is very fresh and lively, not too tannic."
What the world says
No confirmed critic review turns up. Vivino carries one unnamed critic entry scored '86–88' (recorded as 88) from January 2019. Aligoté has never gotten much of the spotlight — most wine labeled generic 'Bourgogne Aligoté' is produced in bulk, and for decades the grape's main job was being mixed with cassis liqueur into a Kir cocktail, which is a large part of why it keeps getting called 'featureless.' Bouzeron is the one exception carved out of that same grape.
On Vivino, the 2017 vintage averages 4.0 from 524 ratings, with 75% at 4 stars or above. The wine overall (all vintages, 3,823 ratings) sits at 3.9 — not far off. Keywords run butter, oak, vanilla; peach, apple, pear; citrus, lemon; minerals, stone, honey — and structure reads as an ordinary white: acidity 3.0, intensity 3.0, sweetness 1.3. Only 2 of the 524 ratings (0.4%) are 1-star.
"Big fan! Even though I failed to chill it properly, it still delivered. Excellent structure and delicacy, full of summer fruit, peach, strawberry, honeydew melon." — Vivino review, Apr 2022, 4.1 stars
"Aligoté aged 15 months on fine lees. Vine peach, citrus, silex and white flowers. Rounded wine, with a hint of acidity and a great structure." — Vivino review, Oct 2019, 4.0 stars
"A beautiful expression of this rare grape. Top notes of pear, meyer lemon, and saline. Medium acidity, light body, low alcohol, and dry. A winner for the price!" — Vivino review, May 2022, 4.0 stars
How I drank it
November 26, 2019, 1.0 star. The note is five words: "Chardonnay without features."
The note called it Chardonnay, but this wine is Aligoté — Bouzeron was created specifically as Burgundy's only village AOC for that grape, and Domaine Gagey's bottle is 100% Aligoté.
Only two bottles in this magazine have ever scored a 1.0: this one and Graham's Six Grapes (Port, Vivino 3.9). This Bouzeron's gap is the wider of the two — the community averages 4.0, a 3.0-point difference — and only 0.4% of its 524 raters (2 people) gave it 1 star. No re-tasting is on record.
Vivino community data
2017 vintage rating distribution (524 ratings, average 4.0)
| 5★ | 49 (9%) | |
| 4★ | 343 (65%) | |
| 3★ | 125 (24%) | |
| 2★ | 5 (1%) | |
| 1★ | 2 (0%) |
Most-mentioned aromas
| Family | Mentions | Top keywords |
|---|---|---|
| Oak | 260 | butter 105 · oak 100 · vanilla 34 · caramel 5 · toffee 3 |
| Stone fruit & apple | 172 | peach 43 · apple 34 · pear 34 · green apple 18 · melon 13 |
| Citrus | 141 | citrus 82 · lemon 29 · lime 11 · grapefruit 8 · orange 3 |
| Earth & mineral | 120 | minerals 64 · stone 11 · honey 10 · smoke 8 · flint 6 |
| Dairy & lees | 48 | cream 20 · oil 14 · cheese 8 · banana 3 · salted butter 2 |
| Tropical fruit | 30 | tropical 14 · pineapple 12 · passion fruit 3 · starfruit 1 |
| Nut & toast | 23 | almond 7 · nutty 7 · toast 5 · hazelnut 2 · biscuit 1 |
Structure: Acidity 3.0/5 · Intensity 3.0/5 · Sweetness 1.3/5
Average by vintage (all vintages: 3823 ratings, average 3.9)
| Vintage | Average | Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 3.9 | 103 |
| 2013 | 3.9 | 44 |
| 2014 | 3.7 | 200 |
| 2015 | 3.7 | 157 |
| 2016 | 3.9 | 373 |
| 2017 | 4.0 | 524 |
| 2018 | 4.0 | 559 |
| 2019 | 4.0 | 469 |
| 2020 | 3.9 | 553 |
| 2021 | 4.1 | 162 |
| 2022 | 4.0 | 331 |
| 2023 | 4.0 | 112 |
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→Frequently asked questions
What kind of wine is this Bouzeron?
A 100% Aligoté white from the Bouzeron AOC in Burgundy's Côte Chalonnaise. Bouzeron is the only village in Burgundy with an AOC built entirely around Aligoté, and this bottle is made by Domaine Gagey, part of Maison Louis Jadot. 12.5% alcohol, Vivino 2017-vintage average 4.0.
How much does it cost?
World average price: US$24 per 750ml ex-tax (Wine-Searcher, Sept 2026). Will be updated once confirmed.
What food pairs well with it?
Shellfish, pasta, rich fish like salmon or tuna, mild cheese and cured meat.
Is this wine Chardonnay or Aligoté?
Aligoté. Bouzeron is Burgundy's only village-level AOC dedicated to the grape, and Domaine Gagey's bottle is 100% Aligoté. My tasting note at the time read 'Chardonnay without features' — that was simply a mistaken guess at the grape.
Links & sources
View on Vivino · Prices on Wine-Searcher
- Vivino — wine page and community data
- Wikipedia — Bouzeron AOC
- Wine.com — Louis Jadot (Domaine Gagey) Bouzeron 2017 product page
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