2023 La Grenade “Les Larets” Aligoté

A Wine Rooted in History

La Grenade Bourgogne Aligoté is a wine rooted in history—connecting 11th-century Cistercian monks of Burgundy, the Chaley family of the storied village of Curtil-Vergy, and the owners of Lonesome Rock Vineyard in Oregon.

The Abbaye.

Perched above the hills of Burgundy in Curtil-Vergy, the Abbaye de Saint-Vivant was a powerful center of religious, political, and winemaking life from the 11th century until the French Revolution. It was here that monks chose Pinot Noir as Burgundy’s signature red grape and laid the foundation for the village, Premier Cru, and Grand Cru classifications still in use today. After the Revolution, the abbey was abandoned and fell into ruin.

The Abbaye & the Domaine de la Romanee Conti.

The abbey plays a key role in the history of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC). The order of monks once owned much of the Romanée-Saint-Vivant vineyard, as well as the original winemaking facility in Vosne-Romanée—now DRC’s headquarters and part of its cellars. In 1996, Aubert de Villaine acquired the abbey and surrounding land, beginning its restoration. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the project received critical support from the Chaley family, Curtil’s largest landholders. They donated land for road access and vineyard replanting on a plot likely once farmed by the monks—now the source of DRC’s third white wine, grown on Le Mont Vergy, directly adjacent to the vineyard that produces La Grenade Aligoté.

The Abbaye and Lonesome Rock.

In the spring of 1993, Danny Klieman, founder of Lonesome Rock, worked his first vineyard: a modest 1-hectare plot of Aligoté called ‘Les Larets’—meaning “a hillside good for planting.” The site lies just beside Le Mont Vergy, where DRC’s white wine now grows, on land with centuries of viticultural heritage. Danny was introduced to Domaine Chaley by his enology professor at the University of Burgundy, Michel Feuillat, whose close friend Yves Chaley ran the domaine.

Today, Les Larets remains the source of La Grenade, crafted in partnership with the Chaley family using both neutral-barrel and stainless-steel fermentation—a wine that continues to honor its historic terroir..