Aligoté is having a moment. The workhorse white grape of Burgundy has spent much of the last half-century better known for kirs – cocktails made from dry white wine and crème de cassis – than fine wine. Today, it has become a darling of American wine connoisseurs.

As white burgundy prices have soared, Aligoté’s relatively modest cost, coupled with dramatic improvements in quality championed by dedicated advocates such as Sylvain Pataille and Aubert de Villaine, has fuelled an Aligoté renaissance, particularly in Bouzeron, the Burgundian village appellation specifically dedicated to the grape. These two producers, along with a band of Burgundians who call themselves Les Aligoteurs, have helped turn a grape valued as an occasional blending component or source of simple quaffing wine into a sought-after variety for serious white wines.

Not surprisingly, the rising star of Burgundian Aligoté has sparked producer interest in America. On 2 May, Balsall Creek winery in Oregon’s Willamette Valley held the Aligoté Affair, at which they and 11 other Oregon wineries poured their Aligotés for a sold-out crowd of 150. The event was billed as the first tasting dedicated to Aligoté in America. I couldn’t make it but the event did get me wondering just how many producers in Oregon and California were exploring the variety.

The answer? A lot more than I or anyone else expected.

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Photo at top: Freshly harvested Aligoté from the Ascona Vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains, courtesy of winegrower Ken Swegles.