Jean Manciat maintains a small 5.5 hectare domaine in the Southern area of Macon quite close to Pouilly Fuisse. His father sold to the local co-op, but Jean began bottling his own wine because of the quailty of grapes coming from his fields. Unlike the typical Mâconnais way of vine training, known as “arcure” which is too productive, Jean trains his vines the same way they do in the Cote d’Or. The shorter Guyot pruning severly reduces yields, giving superior fruit. His yields are less than half of most of his neighbours. He also replanted is vines to less productive rootsocks and reoriented his vine rows to maximize ripeness and limit the impact of disease.
Jean is a great believer in the power of nature to acheive its own balance and so he takes care to minimize any interventions in the fields. He grows grasses between the rows to encourage beneficial insects and protect the soil from erosion and this has meant that diseases and parasites have been drastically reduced, virtually eliminating the need to apply treatments. In the cellar, too, everything is natural and traditional, using indigenous yeasts, eschewing must adjustments and only adding a bit of sulphur to ensure cleanliness and stability. The wines are a pure joy to drink!
100% Chardonnay from vines which average 20 to 25 years and are planted on clay limestone soils. The hand harvested fruit is whole cluster pressed, naturally fermented with indigenous yeats, like all of Manciat’s wines, and aged on its fine lees in stainless steel tanks. No oak is used for this wine to feature the fresh, floral, flinty nature of the fruit. He limits the addition of sulphur to just 3 grams at pressing and about 50 mg at bottling. Dry nectarine, peach, and apricot in a full and round expression. Hints of white flowers and subtle mineral in the finish. Pairs well with white meats, white sausages, cream sauces.
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