--- title: "Viré-Clessé: Mâconnais White Wine Tasting" description: "Created in 1999 for four Haut-Mâconnais communes: ripe, generous Chardonnay and rare late-harvest levrouté. About 1 h from Beaune by private driver." url: https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/vire-clesse lang: en updated: 2026-09-29 generated: 2026-10-08 image: https://www.cote-privee.com/og/villages/vire-clesse.png --- # Viré-Clessé > Viré-Clessé: Two neighbouring villages of the Haut-Mâconnais, joined in one appellation for generous Chardonnay. Viré-Clessé is a wine village (Mâconnais), 1 h by road (73 km) from Beaune. White wine · Private driver from Beaune: €210 one way for the whole car, up to 4 guests. Viré-Clessé brings together four communes of the Haut-Mâconnais, north of Mâcon: Viré, Clessé, Laizé and Montbellet. It is about an hour from Beaune. Created in 1999, it is the youngest village appellation of the Mâconnais, and it is known for ripe, generous Chardonnay. ## Key facts - Type: Wine village - Region: Mâconnais - Location: 65 km south of Beaune · Mâconnais - Coordinates: 46.4486, 4.8421 - 1 h from Beaune - White wine - Appellations: Viré-Clessé - Grapes: Chardonnay - From Beaune: ≈ 1 h · 73 km - €700 for a [full-day wine tour](https://www.cote-privee.com/wine-tours/full-day) plus two hours, from Beaune, up to 4 guests ## Getting there - [Private driver from Beaune](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver): 1 h by road (73 km), €210 one way for the whole car. Coming by train or plane? [Transfers from stations and airports](https://www.cote-privee.com/transfers) Estimates per vehicle for up to 4 guests, tolls included. Your price is confirmed when you book. ## History Clessé goes back to Gallo-Roman times: its Latin name, Classiacus, comes from an early owner called Classius. Its church of Notre-Dame, built at the end of the 11th century and early in the 12th, is inspired by Cluny and crowned by a slender octagonal bell tower. Viré's church of Saint-Cyr-et-Sainte-Julitte keeps its 12th-century Romanesque nave and bell tower. Viré's cooperative cellar was founded in 1928. When the Pouilly appellations were created further south, Viré and Clessé stayed under the regional Mâcon name, recognised in 1937. Chardonnay rose from about 70 percent of plantings in 1970 to almost all of them twenty years later. On 26 February 1999 a decree created Viré-Clessé, replacing Mâcon-Viré and Mâcon-Clessé. In 2018 the late-harvest levrouté and demi-sec styles were officially recognised. ## The wines Viré-Clessé is white only, made mainly from Chardonnay, on about 450 hectares. The rules also allow a small share of other white grapes, such as Aligoté, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris. Vines grow at 200 to 440 metres on two north-south ridges facing east. Soils combine fossil-rich Bajocian limestone, Oxfordian marly limestone, clays with sandstone pebbles and the white limestone stones known locally as cray. Most wines are dry, ripe and generous. A few growers also make demi-sec, with 4 to 8 grams of sugar per litre, and late-harvest levrouté. ## What to see ### Clessé church Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption dates from the late 11th and early 12th centuries. Built of local limestone and inspired by Cluny, it is crowned by a finely proportioned octagonal bell tower. ### Viré church The church of Saint-Cyr-et-Sainte-Julitte keeps its Romanesque nave, bell tower and side portal from the 12th century, despite changes made in the mid-19th century. ### Maison Montauriol A 16th-century house close to Clessé church, easy to spot thanks to its six-sided turret. Admire it from the street on a short walk through the village. ## Good to know Viré-Clessé is about an hour from Beaune, close to the motorway. Pair it with the Romanesque abbey of Tournus, about 20 minutes north, or continue south to Pouilly-Fuissé for a Mâconnais day. ## Did you know? Viré-Clessé levrouté is a late-harvest wine with 8 to 18 grams of sugar per litre. The grapes must be picked by hand, and the style was officially recognised only in 2018. ## Around Viré-Clessé What to combine with Viré-Clessé on the same day, nearest first. ### Villages - [Pouilly-Fuissé](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/pouilly-fuisse) (20 km away): Burgundy's great southern white, grown beneath the limestone cliffs of Solutré and Vergisson. - [Saint-Véran](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/saint-veran) (23 km away): Fresh Chardonnay from villages that wrap around Pouilly-Fuissé, beneath the Roche de Solutré. ### Châteaux - [Château de Vaux-sous-Targes](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-vaux-sous-targes) (2 km away): An Italianate villa of 1830 in the Mâconnais, built by a Basque shipowner on a medieval moated site. - [Château de Besseuil](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-besseuil) (4 km away): A 17th-century manor among the Viré-Clessé vines, now a hotel and restaurant with its own organic vineyard. - [Château de Cruzille](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-cruzille) (7 km away): A fortress on a spur above Cruzille, marked by the Wars of Religion and the Liberation of 1944. - [Château de Messey](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-messey) (10 km away): A fortified house near Tournus, reborn as an organic wine estate with rooms and winegrowers' cottages. - [Château de Boutavent](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-boutavent) (10 km away): A spur-top castle that guarded the Grosne valley for the lords of Brancion, then for Cluny. - [Château d’Ozenay](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-d-ozenay) (10 km away): A stone-roofed manor beside a Romanesque church, held by one family for some four hundred years. ### Things to do - [Cave de Lugny](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/cave-de-lugny) (4 km away): A 1927 cooperative, the leading producer of Mâcon-Villages, with a shop below the Charmes vineyard. - [Azé Caves (Grottes d’Azé)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/grottes-d-aze), 6 km away: Two caves in the Mâconnais hills: an underground river and a prehistoric cave of bears and lions. - [Domaine Fichet](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/domaine-fichet-ige) (9 km away): A family estate in the hamlet of Le Martoret at Igé, whose growers trace their roots back to 1408. - [Mont Saint-Romain](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/mont-saint-romain) (8 km away): A summit of almost 580 metres in the Mâconnais hills, with a rooftop viewing table facing the Alps. - [Musée du Vélo Michel Grézaud](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/musee-du-velo-michel-grezaud-tournus) (13 km away): Nearly 200 bicycles, from an 1818 draisine to a carbon racing machine, in a former starch factory south of Tournus. - [Château de la Greffière et Musée de la Vigne et du Vin](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/chateau-de-la-greffiere-musee-de-la-vigne-et-du-vin) (14 km away): A family estate between Mâcon and Cluny, with a museum of 2,000 old tools and an 18th-century tasting cellar. ### Restaurants - [La Marande](https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/la-marande-montbellet) (3 km away · 1 MICHELIN star): A family-run country house in the northern Mâconnais, starred since 2014. - [Le Raisin](https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/le-raisin-pont-de-vaux) (8 km away · 1 MICHELIN star): A family house in the Bresse, a short hop across the Saône from the Mâconnais vineyards. - [Aux Terrasses](https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/aux-terrasses-tournus) (13 km away · 1 MICHELIN star): A starred family house in Tournus, now in its second generation. - [L’Écrin de Yohann Chapuis](https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/l-ecrin-de-yohann-chapuis-tournus) (14 km away · 1 MICHELIN star): An intimate starred dining room in Tournus, from the chef who helped Lameloise win back its third star. ### Events - **Sunday, 18 October 2026 (Confirmed by the organiser)** · [La Tournuscimes](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/la-tournuscimes): Burgundy's biggest organised walk, on foot, by mountain bike or on horseback through the autumn Mâconnais. (Sport · Chardonnay) - **The third weekend of April, Saturday and Sunday; the 25th edition was held on 18 and 19 April 2026.** · [Printemps du Cru Viré-Clessé](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/printemps-du-vire-clesse): The whole Viré-Clessé appellation opens its cellars on the third weekend of April. (Wine festival · Viré) - **A Thursday in May, from late afternoon into the evening; in 2026 it fell on 14 May.** · [Chardonnay Day à Chardonnay](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/chardonnay-day): The world's favourite white grape is toasted in the Mâconnais village that gave it its name. (Wine festival · Chardonnay) - **Late August; in 2026 it opened on 23 August in Ozenay, then ran from 26 to 29 August in Viré and Tournus.** · [Détours en Tournugeois](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/detours-en-tournugeois): Brass bands, street theatre and village dances between Tournus and the Mâconnais vineyards at the end of summer. (Culture · Tournus) ### Guides about Viré-Clessé - [Burgundy’s grape varieties](https://www.cote-privee.com/guides/burgundy-grape-varieties) - [Wine tour itineraries from Beaune](https://www.cote-privee.com/guides/burgundy-wine-tour-itineraries) ## Questions about Viré-Clessé ### How far is Viré-Clessé from Beaune? Viré-Clessé is about 1 h from Beaune by road (73 km). With a private driver, the trip from Beaune starts at €210 for the whole car, up to 4 guests. ### What wines is Viré-Clessé known for? Viré-Clessé makes mostly white wines under these appellations: Viré-Clessé. ### Can you taste wine in Viré-Clessé? Yes. Many domaines in Viré-Clessé receive visitors, usually by appointment. On a wine tour your driver plans the route and helps you book the tastings, which you pay directly to the domaines. ### Can a private driver take us to Viré-Clessé? Yes. Your driver collects you in Beaune or at your hotel in an electric Polestar 2 (up to 4 guests), waits while you visit and plans the rest of the day with you. The driver speaks English, French, Mandarin Chinese and Arabic. → [Full-day wine tour plus two hours, €700](https://www.cote-privee.com/wine-tours/full-day) ## Book - [Book a driver here](https://www.cote-privee.com/book?service=wine-tour&option=full&place=village:vire): Full-day wine tour plus two hours from Beaune: €700 for the car, up to 4 guests ## Sources - - - - --- Canonical page: