Shooting Star Whites

JED STEELE'S SHOOTING STAR
ALIGOTÉ
WASHINGTON STATE

Aligoté is a variety, which is little known but widely planted. It is in fact the fourth most planted wine grape variety in the world, with huge plantings dominating Eastern Europe, Ukraine, and Moldavia. In France it is the other white grape in Burgundy, but has always played second fiddle to the noble Chardonnay grape. Generally, Aligoté is planted in either hill top or cooler valley locations because it is more cold tolerant. It has never been planted in any commercial quanity in California, but in Washington State, where cold winters are a fact of life, Aligoté has found a happy home.

The Newhouse family has farmed the land south of Sunnyside Washington for generations. They were some of the first wine grape growers and were always experimenting with growing different varieties, including two acres of Aligoté, planted in the 1970's. These grapes were made into varietal wine by one Washington winerey for many years, for a time even outselling its Chardonnay. When the boom for Chardonnay took hold in the late 1980's, the sales of Aligoté declined and eventually the grapes were blended into the Chardonnay.

Our Aligoté is barrel fermented, but we use older oak barrels rather than the 30% new oak that we typically use for Chardonnay. The wine is crisp and clean, a wine with a nice balance of fruit and acidity. Flinty, mineral elements mix with a light floral hint on the nose, followed with the suggestion of tart/sweet apple on the palette, making it a wonderful, versatile food wine.

Here at Steele we have always had a fascination for good but under-appreciated grape varieties. The eclectic nature of our Shooting Star label allows us to make wines from these grapes. Shooting Star presents wines that are unique, appealing and moderately priced. Try our Aligoté and other Shooting Star wines when your tastes turn toward the adventurous.