Mâconnais 2022/2023: Don’t Pass Me By

BY NEAL MARTIN | AUGUST 01, 2024

Mâconnais faces the wrong way as a blushing bride’s beauty hidden behind her veil. Its twin focal points, La Roche de Solutré and Roche de Vergisson, erupt out of the Earth’s crust like the craggy wings of a Cadillac but face away from the motorway connecting Lyon and Beaune. Just a 10-minute drive from the turn-off, they are so hidden that they might as well be ten hours away.

The Roche de Vergisson (pictured) and Roche de Solutré lie parallel, each offering a range of terroirs on their slopes.

Partly as a consequence of that orientation, many Burgundy pilgrims pelting up the Côte d’Or, impatient to take that selfie next to Romanée-Conti, are oblivious to one of France’s most picturesque wine regions, a cradle of top-notch Chardonnay that is translating its terroirs with increasing clarity and conviction. Together with its geographic, if not stylistic, ‘twin’ of Beaujolais, winemakers’ positivity and optimism are tangible while being aware of avoiding the pitfalls that have befallen the Côte d’Or in terms of price escalation and all its attendant problems. “I just make wine. That’s what I’m happy doing,” one vigneron told me, smiling. “What more could you want?”

Perhaps a more benevolent season than the tumultuous start in 2024?

As usual, my annual report focuses on the most recent vintages, predominantly 2022, with a small smattering of 2023s.

The Roche de Vergisson and Roche de Solutré (pictured) lie parallel, each offering a range of terroirs on their slopes.