Wine Masterclass
Wine Masterclass
THREE CHEERS FOR MACON by Jonny Gibson
Pinot Noir red and rosé. A list of approved village names can be suffixed if you want more provenance – eg. Mâcon-Lugny, Mâcon-Fuissé, Mâcon-La Roche Vineuse. There is also the white only Mâcon-Villages AOC, a tighter area of vineyards spread over the region, although somewhat confusingly these wines are often not as good quality as some of the suffixed wines mentioned above. The five communes with the highest reputations have their own appellations – Pouilly-Fuissé AOC and nearby Pouilly-Vinzelles AOC and Pouilly-Loché AOC and also Viré-Clessé AOC and Saint-Véran AOC. In the hands of a good producer like Les
M
Héritiers du Comte Lafon, Bret Brothers,
aybe it’s the fish stall at the Friday
complexity
Domaine Gilles Morat, Gerald Talmard and
market in Lewes or the publicity
about these
Christophe Cordier you can really taste
about healthy omega 3 fats but
wines that
the differences between each village and
either way I’m eating a lot more fish these
just hits the
appellation.
days. When it comes to meat it’s increasingly
spot with
a case of eat less but go for better quality.
white meats,
There’s a fantastic farm shop five minutes up
white fish
the road with top quality free range pork and
dishes and semi soft cheeses. There is enough
beef from rare breeds amongst many other
acidity too for them to work as an aperitif.
good things.
The Mâcon wine region is a patchwork of
I have been particularly enjoying Christophe Cordier’s wines recently. He describes himself as a “haute couture negociant” buying in top quality grapes from excellent plots and making wine in a meticulous fashion in his modern, gravity fed winery. Wines are vinified by
villages, sedimentary soils and terroirs with
terroir, only natural yeasts are used for extra
all this lovely pork loin, free range chicken,
the best villages huddled together in the hilly
complexity and the wines spend time on their
sea bass, monkfish and scallops? I’ve come
limestone amphitheatre around Fuissé to
gross lees before being matured in barrel.
to the conclusion that the answer is the ripe,
the south just above Beaujolais. There is the
Check out my list below left for other Macon
sunshine whites from the Mâconnais region of
regional appellation Mâcon AOC for mostly
wines to try.
southern Burgundy. There is a suppleness and
Chardonnay whites and a little Gamay and
The question is which wines to pair with
Some suggested Macon wines: • Mâcon-Villages 2014, Domaine Mallory et Benjamin Talmard – The Wine Society £8.95 • Mâcon “Aux Bois d’Allier”2014, Domaine Cordier – The Wine Society £10.95 • Mâcon-Villages 2014, DomaineFichet – Quaff Wines £12.99 • Mâcon-Milly – Lamartine 2015, Domaine Chene – South Downs Cellars £13.95 • Viré-Clessé Vieilles Vignes 2014, Christophe Cordier – Majestic £13.49 • Pouilly-Fuissé “En Carementran”2013, Bret Brothers - BBR £15.75 • Mâcon-Milly-Lamartine 2012, Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon – Domaine Direct, Tanners, BBR £18-£19
Jonny Gibson is the head tutor and owner of Sussex Wine School, an independent company that runs regular tastings and courses including WSET Levels 1-3 in Brighton, Lewes and Tunbridge Wells. www.sussexwineschool.com
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