Top Côte Chalonnaise & Mâconnais 2017 en primeur wines

Tim Atkin MW kicks off our Burgundy 2017 coverage by taking a look at these two subregions to the south of the Côte d'Or. Scroll down for his report, including best producers and over 80 tasting notes & scores...

Scroll down to see Tim’s Mâconnais and Côte Chalonnaise tasting notes & scores

Mâconnais

Chardonnay, which tends to perform better than Pinot Noir in hot vintages, is the dominant grape in the Mâconnais, to the tune of 95% of plantings.

Provided producers picked early (some in Fuissé started on 20 August), the results show what Audrey Braccini of Domaine Ferret calls ‘lovely balance’.

Spring frosts and July hail reduced the crop in some vineyards, but overall the region produced good volumes of attractive, if often ripe, wines.Late August rain (up to 60mm on 31 August) was beneficial for those who hadn’t picked, while others blocked malolactics in some cuvées to retain acidity. The best terroirs in Pouilly-Fuissé – many of which will soon be classified as premiers crus – are generally impressive, but look out for wines from higher, cooler sites, especially in Vergisson, that were overlooked in the classification for being too marginal.

There are also some lovely crunchy Gamays in 2017, as well as one or two delicious Aligotés.

Best Mâconnais producers:

Bret Brothers

Château de Fuissé

Château des Rontets

Clos des Vignes du Maynes

Domaine Christophe Cordier

Domaine Cornin

Domaine Daniel & Julien Barraud

Domaine Ferret

Domaine Frantz Chagnoleau

Domaines Leflaive

See all Mâconnais 2017 en primeur tasting notes

Côte Chalonnaise

It wasn’t the case further north in the Côte d’Or, but many producers in the Côte Chalonnaise made bigger volumes of wine in 2016 than they did in 2017. This was especially true in Rully, where there was frost, mildew and uneven flowering, and Montagny, where the dry conditions of 2017 produced small berries with little juice.

As was the case elsewhere in Burgundy in 2017, the best producers tended to be those who picked early and didn’t over-crop. François Raquillet in Mercurey said that the resulting reds were higher in alcohol than the 2016s and ‘fleshier’, while Loïc de Suremain calls them ‘plush and round’.

There are some very good 2017s Chalonnaise wines, both white and red, particularly in Mercurey and Givry, where Pinot Noir is king.

This is a vintage when the leading producers, such as François Lumpp and Bruno Lorenzon, came into their own. Wines from co-operatives, where yields were often higher, should be purchased with greater caution.

Best Côte Chalonnaise producers:

Bruno Lorenzon

Suremain

Faiveley

François Lumpp

François Raquillet

Jean-Baptiste Ponsot

Paul & Marie Jacqueson

Stéphane Aladame

Tupinier-Bautista

Vincent Dureuil-Janthial

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Tim’s top 2017 Côte Chalonnaise & Mâconnais en primeur wines:

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