Mâconnais: The
Headspinning 2015s and The Classic 2014s

BY STEPHEN TANZER | OCTOBER 27, 2016

As on the Côte de Beaune, the Mâconnais produced
classically taut, mineral-driven 2014s followed by very rich and in some cases
exotic 2015s from a very warm, dry, early growing season. In short, the two
vintages offer intriguing choices for every Chardonnay lover.

When I visited
the Mâconnais in September to get an in-depth look at the 2015s, many of them
recently bottled, I hoped for the best but feared the worst from this hot, dry
growing season and extremely early harvest. When it comes to Chardonnay, I
relish vibrant, delineated, gripping wines with high-pitched aromatics and
distinctive terroir character. And fresh
in my mind was what numerous producers had reported during my previous visit to
the region early last October, just a couple weeks after the 2015 harvest ended.
They told me that 2015 was an exceptionally warm drought year, with much of the
harvest in Pouilly-Fuissé and elsewhere in the southern Mâconnais having taken
place under extreme conditions at the end of August, when a hot Sirocco wind
from the south was concentrating the grapes and sucking the moisture out of the
berries—and out of the pickers too. I was aware that&nbsp;while the Côte de Beaune
had benefitted from some perfectly timed rainfall to refresh the vines at a few
key points during the summer, very little of this moisture had reached the Mâconnais,
barely 50 miles to the south.

What I found
was indeed a crop of rich, high-alcohol wines whose soil character is
frequently dominated, at least in the early going, by varietal and vintage
character, not to mention baby fat. But I buy wines, not generalizations, and
so should you. The 2015 vintage also produced many compellingly rich wines.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1477511537432-Vines+in+Macon-Lugny+in+the+late+afternoon%2C+September+2016+copy.jpg"> Vines in Macon-Lugny in the late afternoon, September 2016 

A Quick Recap of the 2015 Growing Season

The winter was
unusually mild. Following a chilly spell in early March, temperatures moderated
during the second half of that month and remained warmer than average through
April, leading to a very early and relatively quick flowering, which began
toward the end of May and mostly finished during a very warm spell in early
June (some growers, I should note, reported that millerandage or coulure
held down their final crop levels). The rest of May remained warmer
than normal, while a stifling eight-day period of heat began on June 30.
Temperatures remained significantly higher than normal until the last few days
of July.

The weather
during the first half of August alternated between very hot days and more
moderate, cloudier periods, but the heat returned with a vengeance at the end
of the month, breaking on the night of August 31, luckily without the violent
hailstorm that caused so much damage in Chablis—in fact, with only 5 to 10
millimeters of rain. That change in the weather essentially marked the end of
summer heat, as the next two weeks brought temperatures mostly in the 70s, and
then in the 60s during the second half of the month, with some sporadic
rainfall.

Most estates in
the southern portion of the Mâconnais, especially in warmer sites close to the
Saône river and in vineyards at lower altitudes, started harvesting in late
August, during the heat spike. (A couple of these producers actually told me
that they should have harvested even earlier.) A number of growers maintained
that the last five or six days of August raised both sugar and acidity levels in the grapes through evaporation of water, and
that fruit harvested during this period could produce very rich, concentrated
wines with enough freshness for balance. But others intentionally held out in
the hope that some rain would fall, because they were concerned about
excessively high alcohol levels and believed that the small, thick-skinned grapes
needed a bit more juice.

Those who
waited to pick in cooler conditions in September often claimed that they did
not lose much acidity, but their fruit was sometimes even higher in sugar, and
in some cases their alcoholic fermentations went very slowly (a few wines were
still eating through the last of their sugar on my September visit!).

In the north, no one started in August, and
the harvest took place entirely under cooler conditions in early September,
with some estates not starting until September 10 or even later. Jean
Thévenet’s Domaine de la Bongran, for example, did not begin harvesting until
September 15 and reported a slight dilution of grape sugars but better overall
balance as a result. Cooler sites in the north, including those located farther
from the moderating influence of the river, were able to take advantage of the
cool-down in September and benefited from more hang time; these wines often
show a very favorable combination of density and energy for the year, even when
alcohol levels were high and acidity levels modest. And of course there’s a
distinct advantage to bringing in the crop at cooler ambient temperatures.
Interestingly, the warmer and more humid sites on the first slope west of the
river made some very rich but totally dry wines, sometimes a little topheavy,
as there was no botrytis in 2015—or in 2014, for that matter.

Although a lot
of 2015s have low total acidity, levels of the more stable tartaric acidity, as
well as pHs, tend to be healthy—similar to the wines of the Côte de Beaune—and wines
from thick-skinned grapes also have strong phenolic material, even noticeable tannins,
to buffer their alcohol.

A natural
vintage of comparison, owing to the heat and drought in 2015, is 2003, but the
2015s have much more flavor interest and the grapes still had more juice than
in 2003. Many growers also compared their 2015s to wines from warm, dry years
like 2009 and 2005. Of course, I should note that while 2015 was an extreme
growing season, there may be more like it in the near future. The Mâconnais,
after all, has been radically affected by climate change. Even 20 years ago,
growers needed to let their fruit hang in order for acidity levels to come down
to drinkable levels, especially in cooler spots like Vergisson, Pierreclos and
Milly-Lamartine as well as inland sites in the northern reaches of the region.
Now the fruit ripens almost every year, and the greatest challenge is often to
preserve natural acidity in the grapes.

<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1477511596105-La+Roche+de+Vergisson+after+a+thunderstorm%2C+October+2015+copy.jpg">La Roche de Vergisson after a thunderstorm, October 2015The Style of the 2015s&nbsp;

My main criticism of the 2015s is that their high alcohol and atypical fleshiness often
mask terroir character and
minerality. Many of the ‘15s possess considerable baby fat, and some show
strong elements of licorice, menthol and honey, along with very ripe soft
citrus and even tropical notes. Many growers describe their wines’ exotic or
liqueur-like qualities as “southern.” Even some nicely balanced and reasonably
fresh examples struggle to escape the stamp of the vintage: it’s normally
difficult to mistake a 2015 for a 2014. The ‘15s typically lead with their
fruit and their obvious ripeness, showing more varietal character than vineyard
typicity. They’re in more of a New World style, and consumers who like
fuller-bodied, mouthfilling Chardonnays will enjoy them. The producers who
describe their 2015s as dominated by fruit normally consider the vintage best
suited for fairly early drinking.

Still, there
are some remarkable 2015s that combine high alcohol levels, totally clean,
highly concentrated fruit and healthy acidity and pHs. Some of these wines will
probably surprise with their longevity. A couple producers marveled over wines
with close to 15% alcohol and more than 4.5 grams per liter of acidity (in some
but not all cases helped by blocked malolactic fermentation) and this
combination is downright freakish.

It’s not all
superripeness in 2015, though. Some vineyards with very warm south and
southwest expositions and shallow rocky soil suffered some blockage of maturity
from the sunshine and drought in July and late August, and these wines often
lack the stuffing to support their edgy finishes. In some cases, sugar maturity
galloped ahead of phenolic maturity—or even the maturity of the juice. Some
wines show their obviously high alcohol in a blurriness of aromas and flavors,
or in an element of bitterness that can give their finishes a dry edge. And
others lack mid-palate density or full skin ripeness because they were picked
too early or ripened too quickly at the end; these wines can also finish tart
or phenolic, with their skin tannins insufficiently buffered by mid-palate
material.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1477511358884-The+hill+of+Solutre%CC%81+copy.jpg">The hill of Solutré

The Later-Released 2014s&nbsp;

On the other
hand, many producers in the southern Mâconnais consider 2014 to be one of the
handful of great vintages for the region, as the better wines here offer a superb
combination of vibrant aromatics, density, fresh acidity and clear minerality.
In cooler areas, and especially in the northern Mâconnais, some wines can lack
a bit of depth—there wasn’t quite enough heat or sunshine for total ripeness,
and in some cases the yields were a bit too generous—and although the vintage
is very good here, it’s harder to find exceptional wines.&nbsp;

The ‘14s are very
clean wines, as the grape skins remained healthy and the harvest took place
under favorable conditions in September. Some wines are a bit austere in the
early going—especially next to their 2015 siblings—but the better ‘14s can be
compared to those of the Côte de Beaune for their aromatic purity, mineral
spine and potential ageability—and their impression of density without weight.
Many ‘14s show more personality today than they did a year ago from barrel or
tank while having retained their essential tautness. Not surprisingly, most
producers prefer their 2014s to their 2015s, and so do I. (As a general rule,
the minority of producers who say they prefer their 2015s to their 2014s are in
the north.) I prize the minerality, vibrancy, density, definition and grip of
these wines—their elegance and lightness of being. The best wines have the
inner-mouth tension, balance and strength of material to age gracefully.

In my coverage
of the Mâconnais this year, I have made it clear whether the 2015s I tasted
were finished wines or were still in barrel or tank by providing scoring ranges
for wines not yet bottled. I have also provided tasting notes for finished
2014s that I sampled last year from barrel or tank; in a few instances I have
updated my notes on ‘14s that I tasted last year just after they had been
bottled. As always, the Mâconnais offers a much more affordable alternative to
the wines from the Côte de Beaune for collectors who gravitate toward soil-driven
Chardonnay. Yes, the prices for the better Mâconnais wines have risen
substantially in recent years, but even the region’s top bottlings are often 50+%
cheaper than wines of comparable quality from the swankier villages of the Côte
de Beaune. The Mâconnais, especially Pouilly-Fuissé, shares some of the same
complex clay-and-limestone soils as the Côte de Beaune and benefits from an
even wider range of expositions and altitudes. Knowledgeable wine lovers are
already exploiting the buying opportunities offered by the most talented Mâconnais
producers and by the region’s best and most distinctive sites, which are
premier crus in all but name.

<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1477511081888-The+climat+Pouilly%2C+just+above+the+village+of+Pouilly%2C+on+the+list+of+sites+to+be+elevated+to+premier+cru+status+copy.jpg">The climat Pouilly, just above the village of Pouilly, on the list of sites to be elevated to premier cru status&nbsp;

The Upcoming Classification of Pouilly-Fuissé’s Top Sites

Speaking of
which, here’s a quick update on the new classification in the works for
Pouilly-Fuissé. The Union des Producteurs de Pouilly-Fuissé, under the
leadership of Frédéric-Marc Burrier (owner of Château de Beauregard in Fuissé),
has assembled a list of about two dozen traditionally superior climats as candidates to be upgraded to
premier crus, which do not currently exist in the Mâconnais. Currently, there
are only five so-called “crus” in the region: Pouilly-Fuissé (which includes
the villages of Chaintré, Fuissé, Solutré-Pouilly and Vergisson), Pouilly-Vinzelles,
Pouilly-Loché, Saint-Véran and, in the north, Viré-Clessé. But a number of
favored sites have proven over the years to make wines of exceptional quality;
here I’m referring to top sites like Ménétrières and Le Clos in the commune of
Fuissé, Vers Cras in Solutré-Pouilly and Maréchaude and Sûr la Roche in
Vergisson.

The INAO (Institut
National des Appellations d’Origine) will nominate new members for both its
regional and national committees by the end of 2016. The decision on
Pouilly-Fuissé’s premier cru proposal will be made by the new INAO committees
in April of 2017. If all goes according to plan, these new premier crus will
officially go into use in 2018. This will provide a boost to sales of these
wines, because now consumers will be able to look for examples from the best
vineyards—and get to know the unique characteristics of the various
sites—rather than simply relying on the producer’s name or even proprietary
names on the labels. One can only hope that official premier cru status will
not drive prices for these wines even higher.

I tasted all
of the wines reviewed in this article during my time in the Mâconnais in
September and in subsequent weeks in New York City. As in the past, I focused
on the white wines of the region, although a few interesting reds sneaked into
my coverage.You Might Also Enjoy <a target="_blank" href="http://">The 2014 White Burgundies: What’s Not To Like?</a>, Stephen Tanzer, September 2016 <a target="_blank" href="http://vinous.com/articles/the-2015-white-burgundies-a-year-of-sunshine-sep-2016">The 2015 White Burgundies: A Year of Sunshine</a>,&nbsp;Stephen Tanzer, September 2016 <a target="_blank" href="http://vinous.com/articles/chablis-gets-the-cote-de-beaune-treatment-from-mother-nature-jul-2016">Chablis Gets the Côte de Beaune Treatment from Mother Nature</a>,&nbsp;Stephen Tanzer, July 2016 <a target="_blank" href="http://vinous.com/articles/the-maconnais-on-the-move-dec-2015">The Mâconnais on the Move</a>, Stephen Tanzer, December 2015

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