Burgundy

District named after the town of Mâcon, located on the river Sâone in the Burgundy region in France, the vineyard area totals around 5.400 hectares. The Roman poet Ausonius (310-395) mentioned wines from this region. Cistercian monks planted large areas with wines in this region in the 11th and 12th centuries. The region became famous in 1660 when wine producer Claude Brosse delivered wine to the court in Versailles, and the “sun king” Louis XIV. (1638-1715) noted at a fair that this was a remarkably great wine. The king spoke to Brosse, tasted the wine after the fair, and was so enthusiastic that henceforth the wine was supplied regularly to the royal court. The area stretches along the Sâone in a strip around 15 kilometres long. Included in the region is a town called Chardonnay, which gave rise to the assumption that the grape variety probably originated in this area. The Mâconnais is known particularly for its juicy white wines, made from Chardonnay with permitted additions of Aligoté and Pinot Blanc, these varieties account for two thirds of the vineyard area. The red wines are made from Gamay and Pinot Noir.

The comprehensive regional appellation Mâcon applies to red, rosé and white wines. Wines with a 1% higher level of alcohol (11 instead of 10%) may be called Mâcon Supérieur (though this is rarely used). The appellation Mâcon-Villages applies only to white wines produced in 44 communes. These are for example: Azé, Chardonnay (reputed to be the source of the variety), Clessé, Grévilly, Lugny, Péronne, Prissé, Sologny and Viré. If the grapes sued are sourced from a single commune, the term Villages may be replaced by the name of the commune. The appellation Mâcon plus an added communal name is used for rosé and red wines. It differs from Mâcon-Villages in that some of the communes available for use are different, such as for example Mâcon-Braye, Mâcon-Davayé and Mâcon-Pierreclos. Pinot Chardonnay-Mâcon is an alternative AC for white Mâcon. Communal appellations: Pouilly-Fuissé, Pouilly-Loché, Pouilly-Vinzelles, Saint-Véran and Viré-Clessé.