The Mâconnais
Similar to the Rhône and Beaujolais regions (the latter of which it slightly overlaps), the Mâconnais has an easy enough hierarchy to its AOCs. Furthermore, there is the possibility for wines of a village or commune to be promoted in the rankings. Starting off as a simple Mâcon, then a Mâcon-Villages, up to Mâcon hypenated with the village name (e.g. Mâcon-Uchizy) to an AOC of the village all alone (e.g. Saint Véran, my go-to Mâconnais wine).
Surpringly, these days* the most basic category is not the largest:
Being the southern-most part of Burgundy proper, Mâcon wines tend to be riper than their northern counterparts. Chardonnay is the king here, though Pinot Noir and Gamay are permitted in the small amount of reds and rosés (they only account for around 8% of the total made).
Of course as we are in Burgundy, the producer is very important:
Bourcier-Martinot
Bourcier-Martinot is a value-driven label owned by childhood friends Jean-Luc Terrier and Christian Collovray. The pair have a serious operation at Domaine des Deux Roches where they have been making wines for over three decades. The Domaine owns “A total of 63 hectares of vines, of which around 24 are in the Saint-Véran appellation, 25 in Mâcon-Villages, Mâcon or Mâcon Chardonnay, and Mâcon La Roche Vineuse, and 2,300 square metres in Pouilly-Fuissé…” Bourcier-Martinot gives them the opportunity to use their winemaking skills on bought in grapes from the Mâcon AOC.
Bourcier-Martinot Mâcon 2020
A brief search online for previous vintages of this wine suggest that it was previously unoaked, but even the colour in the glass – light gold – suggests that this was not the case for the 2020 vintage. The nose confirms that this Mâcon has seen some oak, with vanilla and smoky notes interlaced with pip and stone fruits. The oak is also present on the palate, nice and tangy but already well integrated; I suspect that the barrels used were mainly – if not all – seasoned and not new. The orchard fruits also show in the mouth, with nice texture and weight.
For a “mere” AOC Mâcon this is excellent. Inexpensive Chardonnays rarely do it for me, but this is well worth the normal price of €20 and worth snapping up at the offer price of €17.
- ABV: 13.0%
- RRP: €19.95, currently on offer at €16.95
- Source: sample
- Stockists: O’Briens stores and obrienswine.ie
* 2010 figures taken from Wikipedia
