MÂCON
Chardonnay grapes, the central grape of the white wines of the Mâconnais.
The look of Burgundy’s Côte d’Or, with its lengthy necklace of immaculately tended vineyards and small, timeless villages, hints at the kind of wine made there: extremely limited production whites and reds, prized the world over but affordable by few.
On the other hand, the southern-most district of Burgundy, the Mâconnais—named after its doorway town of Mâcon—is a mix of woods, towns, and farms, as well as copious vineyards, all of a telling voice about Mâcon wines.
And it says that Mâconnais wines—the majority white, a few red—are generally simple, straightforward, and reasonably priced expressions of their grapes (nearly always Chardonnay). By and large, Mâcon wine isn’t about nuance, subtlety, and sophistication. It’s simply about being delicious.
Facts
The Mâconnais is the southernmost border of the whole of Burgundy and is about 22 miles long, and six miles wide. It remains pastoral, with pastures and grain fields intermixed with vineyards.
The Mâcon is Burgundy’s second largest vineyard area (16,000 acres to Beaujolais’ crowning 47,000) and is minimally planted with two red grapes (Pinot Noir and Gamay), Chardonnay making up the great majority of vines (upwards of 85 percent). Until the 18th century, however, it was the Gamay that reigned here, as it does in Beaujolais to this day.
The calcareous, silicate, sometimes sandy, Mâcon soils are particularly well-suited for Chardonnay. Indeed, it is a newfound interest in “minerality” that marks many an appreciation for Mâcon wines.
A ladder of quality
Mâcon wine appears as either simple “Mâcon,” a grade better as “Mâcon Supérieur,” or as the best of all, “Mâcon Villages,” the latter coming from one or more of 41 designated villages.
Some villages allow the use of their name, as in “Mâcon-Lugny” or “Mâcon-Viré.” As with much Burgundy wine, white or red, quality is often more a function of the producer—in the case of 75 percent of Mâcon wine, the co-operative—than the location or name of the vineyards from which the wine is made.
The most famous of all Mâcon wine (at least in the U.K. and U.S.A.) used to be Pouilly-Fuissé, a 100 percent Chardonnay wine made in and around the towns of Vergisson, Solutré-Pouilly, Fuissé and Chaintré, two of the towns’ names fused to label the wine.
Because of very high name recognition and consequent high demand, Pouilly-Fuissé was wretchedly overpriced, although more and more producers merit what they ask for. Some feel that much better value in Mâcon wine is to be had with less well-known designations.
At its best, Pouilly-Fuissé is a large-busted version of Chardonnay, complex and full at once, with a fine balance between fruit and a minerally terroir.
A close sibling to Pouilly-Fuissé is St. Véran, from the nearby village of St. Vérand. It also is 100 percent Chardonnay, grown on similar soils and subsoils. Some feel it is the equal to (or surpasses) Pouilly-Fuissé in quality. It nearly always is less in price.
St. Véran shows more finesse and charm than Pouilly-Fuissé, with a more delicate bouquet and body, and it, too, is quintessential Chardonnay.
Both Pouilly-Fuissé and St. Véran are delicious when young, can age slightly into their 3rd or 4th birthdays and will, with even a short period in the bottle, exhibit hints of toasted almonds or flint.
Mâcon rouge
The Mâconnais shares some of appellations for red wine with its neighbor to the north, the Côte Chalonnaise. Bourgogne Grand-Ordinaire, Bourgogne Passe-Tout-Grains, and Crémant de Bourgogne (Burgundy’s wonderful sparkling wine) are made of Pinot Noir, plain and simple, or mixed with Gamay.
In general, Mâcon reds are light in body and comfortably structured. They easily can take a chill and are delicious with white meat dishes, charcuteries, and lighter cheeses.
Mâcon and food
Crémant de Bourgogne—especially rosé—makes for a terrific apéritif before meals. The Pouilly wines (-Fuissé, -Vinzelles and -Loché) serve for a myriad of foods, from charcuterie, hors d-oeuvres in general, cold shellfish, escargots, grilled or fried fish, and chèvre and Gruyère cheeses.
White Mâcons, by and large, perform well with many of the same foods, but especially with more delicate and lighter versions of them.
One great benefit of much well-made contemporary Mâcon wine, of nearly every level of quality, is a pronounced, crisp, freshening acidity. That alone makes them delicious table partners for a range of cuisines.