Mâconnais, Burgundy’s southern Chardonnay country

Rolling hills in the north give way in the south to the great outcrops of Vergisson and Solutré, above the appellations most visitors look for: Pouilly-Fuissé, which has 22 premiers crus, Saint-Véran and Viré-Clessé. The village of Saint-Vérand is written with a d, its wine, Saint-Véran, without one, and the regional Mâcon appellation can add one of 27 village names to its label. The whole region lies between the valleys of the Grosne to the west and the Saône to the east.

The Rock of Solutré rises to 493 m above the vineyards of Pouilly-Fuissé, with an easy path to the top, and at its foot the Solutré Museum of Prehistory tells how hunters came here for tens of thousands of years.

The reds are mostly Gamay rather than Pinot Noir: the Mâconnais did not belong to the Duchy of Burgundy when the dukes had Gamay pulled up in their lands in the Middle Ages.

Monks shaped these vineyards. Cluny Abbey, founded in 909 by William I, Count of Mâcon, followed the Benedictine rule of prayer and work, and its monks planted vines of their own. Cluny and Tournus, with its Saint-Philibert Abbey, are both within easy reach of the vineyards, and the Château de Pierreclos, a wine estate on a rocky spur near the Rock of Solutré, opens for visits and tastings.

Our full-day wine tour, with 2 extra hours for the drive, covers the Mâconnais for €700 per car, with tastings, lunch and time in the vineyards; the tastings are paid to the domaines directly.