Mâconnais
Encyclopedia
The Mâconnais district lies in the south of the Burgundy wine
Burgundy wine
Burgundy wine is wine made in the Burgundy region in eastern France, in the valleys and slopes west of the Saône River, a tributary of the Rhône. The most famous wines produced here - those commonly referred to as "Burgundies" - are red wines made from Pinot Noir grapes or white wines made from...

 region in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, west of the River Saône. It takes its name from the town of Mâcon
Mâcon
Mâcon is a small city in central France. It is prefecture of the Saône-et-Loire department, in the region of Bourgogne, and the capital of the Mâconnais district. Mâcon is home to over 35,000 residents, called Mâconnais.-Geography:...

. It is best known as a source of good value white wines made from the Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...

 grape; the wines from Pouilly-Fuissé
Pouilly-Fuissé
Pouilly-Fuissé is an appellation for white wine in the Mâconnais subregion Burgundy in central France, located in the communes of Fuissé, Solutré-Pouilly, Vergisson and Chaintré...

 are particularly sought-after. Almost all the wine made in the Mâconnais is white wine. Chardonnay is the main grape grown, in fact there is a village of that name
Chardonnay, Saône-et-Loire
Chardonnay is the commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.The name is a derivative of Cardonnacum, a Latin term to denote the land of Cardus, the owner of the land surrounding this village during the end of the Roman period. It is also the definition...

 in the far north of the region. A little Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir
Pinot noir is a black wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes...

 is made into red Mâcon but only for local consumption. Gamay
Gamay
Gamay is a purple-colored grape variety used to make red wines, most notably grown in Beaujolais and in the Loire Valley around Tours. Its full name is Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc. It is a very old cultivar, mentioned as long ago as the 15th century...

 is grown in the Beaujolais
Beaujolais
Beaujolais is a French Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée wine generally made of the Gamay grape which has a thin skin and is low in tannins. Like most AOC wines they are not labeled varietally. Whites from the region, which make up only 1% of its production, are made mostly with Chardonnay grapes...

 cru of Moulin-à-Vent which extends into the Mâconnais, but has little in common with the wines north of the border.

Geography

The geology is similar to that of the Côte d'Or
Côte d'Or (escarpment)
The Côte d'Or is a limestone escarpment in Burgundy, France that lends its name to the department which was formed around it...

, but the gentle relief means that that vines are mixed with other forms of farming in most of the area. In the south the land rises up to form Mont de Pouilly and other limestone hills, covered in the alkaline clay that best suits Chardonnay. The villages of Vergisson, Solutré-Pouilly, Fuissé and Chaintré shelter at their feet, and are home to the best wines of the region.

History

Mâcon was a major crossroads in Roman times, and grapes would have been brought by the Romans if they were not already cultivated by the Celts. Viticulture was further encouraged by local religious foundations; the province
Provinces of France
The Kingdom of France was organised into provinces until March 4, 1790, when the establishment of the département system superseded provinces. The provinces of France were roughly equivalent to the historic counties of England...

 was dominated by the bishopric of Mâcon during the Dark Ages.

The region formed the border between the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire from 843-1600 and grew rich on customs duties in that time. A secular Count of Mâcon is not recorded until after 850; from 926 the countship became hereditary. The last Count of Mâcon and of Vienne died in 1224 and the lands passed to his daughter, Alix de Bourgogne (Alice of Burgundy); when her husband died in 1239, she sold the Mâconnais to Louis IX of France
Louis IX of France
Louis IX , commonly Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death. He was also styled Louis II, Count of Artois from 1226 to 1237. Born at Poissy, near Paris, he was an eighth-generation descendant of Hugh Capet, and thus a member of the House of Capet, and the son of Louis VIII and...

. The 1435 Treaty of Arras
Treaty of Arras
There have been several treaties of Arras:* the Treaty of Arras , between Charles VII of France and Philip the Good of Burgundy* the Treaty of Arras , between Louis XI of France and the governments of the Low Countries...

 saw Charles VII of France
Charles VII of France
Charles VII , called the Victorious or the Well-Served , was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent, the Duke of Bedford, ruled much of France including the capital, Paris...

 cede it to Philip, Duke of Burgundy, but in 1477 it reverted to France, upon the death of duke Charles the Bold. Emperor Charles V definitively recognized the Mâconnais as French at the Treaty of Cambrai in 1529.

After the fall of the Bastille
Storming of the Bastille
The storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris on the morning of 14 July 1789. The medieval fortress and prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the centre of Paris. While the prison only contained seven inmates at the time of its storming, its fall was the flashpoint...

 in 1789, the mountain peasants of Mâconnais revolted. Many were executed by the urban militias of Mâcon, Cluny
Cluny
Cluny or Clungy is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France. It is 20 km northwest of Mâcon.The town grew up around the Benedictine Cluny Abbey, founded by Duke William I of Aquitaine in 910...

 and Tournus
Tournus
Tournus is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.-Geography:Tournus is located on the right bank of the Saône, 20 km. northeast of Mâcon on the Paris-Lyon railway.-Sights:...

 after much brigandage.

Appellations

  • Mâcon is the basic appellation
  • Mâcon-Villages
  • Mâcon-Charnay
  • Mâcon-Prissé
  • Pouilly-Fuissé with junior partners Pouilly-Loché
    Pouilly-Loché
    Pouilly-Loché is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée for white wine in the Mâconnais subregion Burgundy in central France, located in the commune of Loché, an associated commune of Mâcon. Pouilly-Loché has Chardonnay as the only allowed grape variety...

    and Pouilly-Vinzelles
    Pouilly-Vinzelles
    Pouilly-Vinzelles is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée for white wine in the Mâconnais subregion Burgundy in central France, located in the communes of Vinzelles and Loché, the latter an associated commune of Mâcon. Pouilly-Vinzelles has Chardonnay as the only allowed grape variety...

    .

  • Mâcon-Viré and Mâcon-Clessé, but these two villages in the far north of the region have recently been awarded their own appellation of Viré-Clessé
    Viré-Clessé
    Viré-Clessé is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée for white wine in the Mâconnais subregion Burgundy in central France, located in the communes of Clessé, Laizé, Montbellet and Viré. Viré-Clessé has Chardonnay as the only allowed grape variety. There are no Premier Cru vineyards within the AOC...

    .


Another recent appellation is Saint-Véran
Saint-Véran AOC
Saint-Véran is an Appelation d'Origine Contrôlée for white Burgundy wine from the Mâconnais subregion, located in the department of Saône-et-Loire.- Geographical description :...

, which covers most of the Chardonnay vineyards that used to make white Beaujolais, in the commune of Saint-Vérand
Saint-Vérand, Saône-et-Loire
Saint-Vérand is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.-Wine:Saint-Vérand and surrounding communes produce white Burgundy wine under the appellation Saint-Véran, using Saint-Vérands old spelling, without 'd'....

. Saint-Véran and white Beaujolais may be regarded as southern extensions of the Mâconnais.
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