Domaine Gaillard Mâcon Charnay-lès-Mâcon 2024

This Mâcon Charnay-lès-Mâcon comes from a two-hectare plot located in the village of Charnay-lès-Mâcon, on the outskirts of Mâcon, in southern Burgundy. Facing west, the vine takes root in clay-silt soil. The vines, 35 years old on average, are farmed sustainably by Domaine Gaillard, based in Davayé, with soil work under the row and cover crops between the rows.

The harvest is mechanical. The grapes are gently pressed in a pneumatic press, then the juice is settled statically for 12 to 48 hours. Alcoholic fermentation takes place at 18 °C and is followed by malolactic fermentation. The wine is then aged on fine lees, entirely in stainless-steel tanks, to preserve its fruit.

This wine reveals notes of pear, white peach, apple, lemon, jasmine, orange blossom, acacia and brioche. The nose, fine and delicate, precedes a discreet attack that brings out the wine’s gourmand character. The palate, generously fruity, lingers on a tangy finish, with a lovely balance between the sweetness of the fruit and freshness.

The cradle of wine culture in Western Europe, France owes its first vines to the Greeks of Phocaea, who settled around Marseille some twenty-six centuries ago, before the Romans spread viticulture along the Rhône and the Garonne and as far as Champagne. In the Middle Ages, Cistercian and Benedictine monks cleared the slopes of Burgundy and patiently mapped out the climats, laying the foundations of the notion of terroir. The 19th century brought the glory of the classifications, then the disaster of phylloxera, which wiped out the vineyards before they were rebuilt on American rootstocks; the creation of the appellations d'origine contrôlée in the 1930s then set the rules that would inspire the whole world. Today, France vies every year with Italy and Spain for first place in world production by volume and remains the ultimate benchmark of the Old World, as much for its age-worthy wines as for its winemaking models. Vineyards cover almost the entire country, from the cool north of Champagne and Alsace to the Mediterranean shores of Languedoc and Provence, by way of the oceanic climates of Bordeaux, the Loire and the South-West, continental Burgundy, the steep slopes of the northern Rhône and the high-altitude valleys of Savoie and the Jura. This mosaic of soils – limestone, schist, gravel or rounded pebbles – explains the extraordinary diversity of styles. As for grape varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot dominate Bordeaux and produce structured reds, Pinot Noir is the signature of Burgundian finesse, Syrah of the depth of the Rhône, while Grenache, Gamay, Cabernet Franc and Mourvèdre cover every register, from easy-drinking wines to wines for long ageing. Among the whites, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin, Riesling and Viognier offer expressions ranging from lively and mineral to unctuous, all the way to great sweet wines. A land of benchmarks and constant discoveries, France remains the compass for wine lovers the world over.