Moving On Up: Mâconnais 2021 & 2022

INTRODUCTION Dumbstruck by the insult, the winemaker stands motionless, mouth agape, lost for words… It is the 1990s and the day of the pre-auction tasting of barrel samples due to be auctioned by the Hospice de Beaune. Anticipation is rife as tasters congregate and exchange views on the wines. Among the number is winemaker Dominique Cornin. Under his aegis are five parcels of 35- to 90-year-old vines around the village of Chaintré, the source for the Hospice’s sole representation from Mâconnais, a Pouilly-Fuissé gifted by Françoise Poisard in 1994 (and again in 2012). Inexplicably, the reds are poured before the whites. Complicating matters further, attendees are given a single glass, which begs the question: how will the glasses be cleaned after those tannic reds? The advice given by organizers is to rinse them not with water but with the Pouilly-Fuissé. What a slur against Pouilly-Fuissé and Mâconnais, an attack against the dignity of Cornin and his fellow vignerons. It testifies to the low esteem towards the Mâconnais, indicative of how cognoscenti viewed the region at that time. This anecdote, related by Cornin’s son Romain during my visit, elucidates the region’s strides since then. The quality of Pouilly-Fuissé, Mâcon, Saint-Véran and Viré-Clessé is being recognized by increasing numbers of oenophiles, not least legions priced out of the Côte d’Or. The long-fought for and ultimately successful application for Premier Cru status apropos Pouilly-Fuissé validates its status as a region whose wines can rank amongst the best in Burgundy. If you are yet to discover the joys of Mâconnais, you’re missing out. GROWING SEASONS This report focuses on the 2021 and 2022 vintages, the latter comprising early bottled cuvées or barrel samples tasted during visits. I summarised the 2021 vintage in last year’s report , which I replicate below. Like much of France, the Mâconnais had a rather turbulent, cool growing season. An unseasonably warm February was misleading as temperatures struggled in the ensuing months: 10.3°C in April, 13.1°C in May, June was normal at around 20.3°C but July was cooler at 19.9°C and August cooler still at 19.4°C. Meanwhile, it was decidedly wet, with 144mm, 92mm and a torrential 150mm in May, June and July. Compare that figure to Beaune, which received just under 82mm that month – we are looking at almost double the amount of rain. August brought some relief as it was dry, with 36mm of rain, though September saw the taps turn on again with 83mm. The hail episode that struck the region was on 21 June, if I recall correctly, around 2:30pm. It was the first time I had witnessed the destructive force of hail. I learned how you might well be in the eye of a storm. Yet, just a kilometer away, conditions may be completely benign, vines untouched, as was the case that day when Pouilly-Fuissé bore the brunt. At the same time, nearby appellations such as Pouilly-Vinzelles were almost completely spared. Though hail wrought destruction in some localized areas, several winemakers explained that they actually lost more due to frost earlier in the season. Sunlight hours were average in June, but there was a shortfall in July, 207 hours in total, around 20% below average. August was also below normal. Fortunately, September saw more sunshine with 214 hours – more than in July despite shorter daylight hours. Unsurprisingly mildew and oidium were a constant threat, and teams had to be constantly vigilant, entering the vineyards during dry interludes, sometimes in a futile effort to keep on top of things. I remember visiting Jean-Marie Guffens in early June and finding the normally indefatigable winemaker already knackered and ruing the remainder of the growing season. There was so much saturated ground that tractors were often impossible to operate, mandating arduous and costlier manual spraying, not knowing the reward for the effort come harvest. Bud break in 2020 was on 28 March, still four days earlier than usual, while mi-fleuraison (the middle of flowering that winemakers use as a measure) took place on 13 June 2021, six days later than usual, mi-véraison not until 20 August 2021. In 2021, sugar accretion languished below that of vintages on either side, only reaching 180g/L by the time the inclement weather from 10 September stifled accumulation altogether. Malic levels remained comparatively high against other vintages, often over 4g/L. Most pickers went out into the vineyard much later than in recent years, around 21 September, nearly a month later than the previous year. This can make recruiting pickers trickier since many students are commencing the new academic year around this time. Nature dealt winemakers a completely different set of playing cards in 2022, one that draws comparisons with 2020. It was an unprecedented hot vintage with unseasonably warm temperatures in February and March that enticed vines out of winter dormancy. April was cooler at 11.5° Celsius followed by summer weather in May when the mercury averaged 18.5°C, some 5.4°C warmer than the previous year. Conditions remained balmy with temperatures in June, July and August, 21.5°C, 23.7°C and 23.9°C, respectively. As rapper Nelly once claimed: It’s Getting Hot in Here. BIVB figures show that during the 12 months of 2022, there were 105 and 48 days when the mercury tipped 25°C and 30°C, respectively, compared to 83 and 40 days in 2020., which was also slightly more than in the Côte d’Or. As you would expect, drought conditions prevailed throughout almost the entire year, just 13mm in May and 8mm in July – 142mm less than the previous July! The anomalous month of June saw 145mm of rain, perversely much more than the previous year. However, the figures do not tell the entire story since precipitation was concentrated in storms between June 21 and 25, whereas what vines really need is steady, earth-saturating rain. Sunlight hours were also way above average: 390 hours in July alone, almost double that of 2021, and a further 298 sunlight hours in August. The result is that 2022 was the warmest year since the beginning of the 20th century, not to mention drier than 2020 2019 and even 2003. --Neal Martin, Moving On Up: Mâconnais 2021 & 2022, August 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ To take a look at the next crop of Premier Crus and overall thoughts on the wines, check out the full article on Vinous now . Enjoy a few of Neal’s tasting notes below.