Mâconnais pushes for Premier Crus

Their last big attempt was in 2010. Back then, producers ordered a geological evaluation of the terroir in a region of 400 hectares and the included 73 climatic sections to the national Institute for Appellations INAO. The initial plan was to receive a clear analysis on which vineyard sites could become a Premier Gru.

"There are certainly many great terroirs that would are potential Premier Crus in the Mâconnais – because of the color, composition and exposition of the grounds", says Mathieu Bubel, Marketing Director at Maison Drouhin, which produces many wines from Mâconnais."The authorities will probably take a long time to find out which of our sites will be good enough for the appellation status that we are seeking. Producers need to realize, though that they have to intensify their work in order to meet the standards for a Premier Cru site. However, I don't have any doubts that they can achieve this."

The INAO, which has already hired a group of experts to analyze the grounds and define the necessary characteristics, confirmed that the end result will probably not be announced until 2015. It is expected that the grapes of the future Premier Cru sites in the Mâconnais will be picked by hand and that at least 5 hectar liters per hectare less than usual will be brought in.

This is not the first time that it took a producer a while to achieve this goal: Climatically defined vineyard sites in the Burgundy are analyzed and categorized regularly. Thus, Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru in the Morey-Saint-Denis area in 1981 as well as La Grande Rue in Vosne Romanée in 1992. Les Grand Epenots, too, took a long time to achieve its Grand Cru.  

Not everyone in the Burgundy thinks that a change in classification is a good idea. Thus, Pierre Morey, who has a domaine with the same name and who himself produces a Grand-Epenots Pommard 1st Cru says: "Pommard has been trying for 20 years to get this classification. You do not need this title to know that these wines are excellent and they have an impressive longevity. At the end of the day, every wine classifies itself, no matter what other people say." (red.yoopress)