Trip to the Mâconnais and Beaujolais
Posted: Sat May 16, 2026 4:26 pm
Last week, a group of six friends from three countries, including fellow forumite Ian Amstadt, decided to rent a gîte in Southern Burgundy and discover the wines there. Several of us are put off by wines from the Côte d’Or due to their unreliability and/or eye-watering price increases, and so were seeking more affordable alternatives – even if no one seriously expected them to reach quite the same heights.
First of all, we were all really taken with the region, with its rolling vine-covered hills as far as the eye can see. We stayed in Vergisson, a stone’s throw from Fuissé and near to two impressive geological formations rising from the plain, La Roche de Vergisson and the more famous Roche de Solutré.
Our trip encompassed the Mâconnais and the Beaujolais. While the former region is clearly Burgundian, what about the latter? The answer is that Beaujolais is entitled to several Burgundian appellations (indeed, much of the white wine used to make Crémant de Bourgogne comes from the Mâcon area), and the interprofessional organization BIVB includes Beaujolais within its remit. That having been said, of course the Gamay of Morgon and the Pinot Noir of Vosne-Romanée are different beasts, as are Mâcon-Viré and Puligny-Montrachet though made from the same grape.
Easting out is attractivelyl priced in Southern Burgundy and, as much as I love the wines of Bordeaux, I have to admit that the cuisine in the Lyonnais and in Burgundy is richer and more varied…
Anyway, here’s a thumbnail description of where we went in 4 days (17 wineries):
The first winery was only visited by myself and my wife, Christine. This was the Hameau Georges Duboeuf in Romanèche-Thorins. Try to imagine a downsized French version of a wine Disneyland and you have pretty much captured the spirit of the place. This is definitely for the general public and not terribly worthwhile for the wine geek. Nevertheless, it was something to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon and the several wines we tasted were good, but not great. The late Georges Duboeuf was referred to as the King of Beaujolais, and he did, in fact, do much to promote the appellation worldwide.
Group members all met up on Sunday evening in the city of Mâcon and stayed at the Hotel Mercure there. This was within walking distance of the Maison des Vins du Mâconnais, which has a restaurant open on Sunday evenings. That suited us just fine and we had a simple, filling meal accompanied by local white wines plus one red AOC Burgundy.
We kicked off on Monday at Château Fuissé, quite the traditional estate with 40 hectares of vines. We were taken around the cellar by Bénédicte Vincent who spent a lot of time describing the complexities of introducing the classification of 22 Premiers Crus in Pouilly Fuissé starting with the 2020 vintage. She was not very tender with the bureaucracy overseeing things… We tasted though six Puilly Fuissé wines from the 23 and 24 vintage, including their “monopole”, Le Clos (3 hectares). The wines were quite good, but not the finest we tasted.
Next stop was Domaine Cordier, also in Fuissé, where we had a great time with Christophe Cordier, a very personable and dynamic winegrower. He practices organic and biodynamic viticulture on 35 hectares of vines, 30% of which are premier cru. We tasted five wines which we found very impressive. As for Mâcon Villages wines with an appended name, this can be very confusing seeing as some 27 different towns are entitled to do so... But when you hit one of these right, they can be real gems, and champions in terms of quality/price ratio. This was the case for Cordier’s 23 Milly-Lamartine “Clos du Four”. Selling at 20 euros a bottle, we were enchanted. We bought cartons of the stuff, as well as some of his premiers crus, which are world class.
Lunch: THE place to go in Juliénas, a 20-minute drive from Cordier, is Le Coq. However, my wife suggested a more downmarket, but more authentic restaurant just up the street, Le Sarment. The 19 euro menu, including Beaujolais and coffee proved to be just the ticket and it would be hard to find better value for money anywhere in France.
Our next visit was to Domaine de La Roche Noire in Chénas. Tanguy Balvay is the friend of someone I know. A real salt-of-the-earth kind of guy, he is not really used to visitors, but welcomed us warmly. Like so many vignerons, he is a one-man band, singlehandedly doing just about everything it takes to make wine from 18 hectares of vines. We tasted his 24 Beaujolais Blanc, 25 Chénas, 25 Saint Amour, 24 Mouln à Vent et 25 Moulin-à-Vent. These were all good basic wines sold at very competitive prices. One group member bought 5 or 6 cartons.
The last visit of the day was to Domaine Richard Rottiers in Romanèche Thorins We weren’t able to meet the man himself because he splits his time between Domaine des Malandes (29 hectares in Chablis) and the Beaujolais. His 5 hectares of vines in Beaujolais, farmed organically, produce excellent sturdy wines and several of us walked away with bottles of his Moulin-à-Vent – an appellation which, when it’s very good like this, can be reminiscent of a fine Pinot from the Côte d’Or, particularly with age.
The next day started out with a visit to Domaine J.A. Ferret in Fuissé. We had a tremendously informative visit with the young, but experienced manager, Clément Robinet. Ferret was acquired by Jadot in 2008 and has always positioned itself as an élite producer of Pouilly Fuissé, with prices to match. Whole bunches are pressed in three presses, which seemed a bit like overkill at first, but with over 70 plots on 20 hectares, timing varies considerably… Ferret introduced a very unusual system for identifying their vineyards: “tête de cuvée” and “hors classe”. They have retained these names but also including “premier cru” where appropriate. We had a fascinating tasting of 6 wines from the excellent 2023 vintage, from village level to the top of the range, Le Tournant de Pouilly. The wines were uniformly good with that uniquely Burgundian controlled reduction, that “matchstick” aroma that managed never to go too far. The wines are expensive, but also very good.
Next stop was Château de Beauregard, also in Fuissé, where we were looked after by Frédéric Burrier, a friend of one of our group members. Beauregard has belonged to the same family since 1854 and has 37 hectares of vines. As opposed to the Côte d’Or, this was the only visit that included barrel tasting, always an interesting experience. The range of wines we tried was quite large, starting with the 24 Milly Lamartine, the 22 Saint Véran (an appellation which we generally came to see as tremendous value for money), 23 village Pouilly Fuissé, 22 Les Cras, Pouilly premier cru, and 23 La Maréchaude, another premier. The quality was uniformly high. Frédéric invited us to stay for a “mâchon”, a Lyonnais word for a simple snack of charcuterie, bread, and Beaujolais, but this turned out to be a full-fledged meal with a number of wines, including some quite old. This was an unforgettable experience.
Our car started to be weighed down with all the purchases we were making…
From Beauregard we went to Domaine de La Croix Senaillet in nearby Davayé. This is a modern, well-run estate with 25 hectares of vines owned and managed by the Martin brothers. We tasted through 3 wines from the 23 vintage and two from the 22. The wines were clean and irreproachable, but most seemed a little too angular for my taste.
The last visit of the day was to Château de Pierrelos, a lovely castle dating back centuries. The estate has 11 hectares of vines. It is a tourist attraction in its own right, which means that much of the wine is sold to sold to visitors, at somewhat higher prices than most other producers. We tasted through 7 wines but, unfortunately, none really stood out. The overall level was OK, but nothing special.
Our third day started with a visit to Clos la Roilette in Fleurie. They have 14 hectares of vines in several crus. We were met by the owner, Alain Coudert, in a very old-fashioned cellar. We had to step over pipes to reach the tasting room and Monsieur Coudert seemed rather gruff at first, but ended up warming to us, especially when we told about tasting his wines in our respective countries, which most of us had. The Roilette label is unforgettable! We quite enjoyed the wines: 24 Brouilly, 24 Fleurie, 24 Fleurie Cuvée Tardive, 23 Moulin-à-Vent, and the 22 Fleurie La Griffe du Marquis. These are good no-frills wines and several of us bought cases to take back home.
We enjoyed lunch at the Maison des Beaujolais in Belleville-en-Beaujolais, which also claims to have the largest selection of Beaujolais wines anywhere. The food was OK and we were guided in selecting wines to drink at table. This is a good mid-range establishment and great for wine lovers. Prices are quite affordable.
We then went to visit Domaine Marcel Lapierre in Morgon. There wines are fairly well distributed in France, especially in restaurants, and I had tasted them before. Lapierre have 20 hectares of vines, of which 18 are in Morgon. They are one of the most famous names in the appellation and were pioneers in organic and biodynamic winemaking. We were welcomed by Italian son-in-law Georgio and tasted through recent vintages of their wines. Some of them border on the so-called natural fringe and were thus not to my taste, but it transpired that the same wines could be treated conventionally or not, depending on their clients’ desires… I did not come away particularly impressed, nor did my friend who is usually a real Lapierre fan.
We finished out the day with a vist to Château Thivin in Odenas. This turned out to be one of our favorite producers. Thivin has been in the Geoffray family for five generations and we were warmly welcomed by Monsieur Claude Vincent Geoffray, who is semi-retired and has largely handed over running the estate to his son and Swiss daughter-in-law. We tasted ten wines from the 23 and 24 vintages, which we thoroughly enjoyed. I picked up a carton of the Beaujolais Blanc Clos de la Rochebonne, which was more than a curiosity. We were surprised to learn that you can put up to 15% Chardonnay into red Beaujolais. The cru wines, were all very good, and I had a soft spot for the 24 Côte de Brouilly. In any event, everyone in the group agreed that this was a stellar domaine. They even produce a weird and wonderful cuvée, Utopia, from 50% Prior, 40% Chambourcin, and 10% Souvignier – all varieties that are naturally resistant to most vine diseases.
Our final day in the Beaujolais started with a visit to Domaine Jean Foillard. We tasted through their basic AOC wines as well as their Morgon and Fleury. These were more or less in the natural wine movement of Lapierre, but were less marked by the trend and therefore more enjoyable. Still, none of the wines really moved us.
The next visit was improvised: I had heard good things about Domaine Mee Godard and since we were in Villié-Morgan and had an hour to kill, I called on the spur of the moment to ask if we could come by and taste. This is not my usual way of doing things, but Madame Godard was kind enough to receive us. All here wines lived up to her reputation: a fine 24 Beaujolais Blanc, wonderful 23 and 24 Morgon Côte de Py, and a delightful 23 Moulin-à-Vent. This were some of the most elegant wines we tasted during our trip and they were moderately priced to boot.
Lunch was enjoyed at La Terrasse en Beaujolais in Chiroubles. As its name implies, this sits on a hillside with a commanding view of the wine country. The wine list is also good, the price is right, and the portions are gargantuan. I ordered a coq au Beaujolais and was served a mammoth portion I could not hope to finish. Dessert went by the board.
Our first afternoon visit was to Domaine de la Grose Pierre in Chiroubles, an estate with about 10 hectares of vines. We were met by Pauline Passot a young winemaker full of enthusiasm. Her range consisted of fruit-forward wines in the true Beaujolais mold. Like everywhere else, there was a clear difference between the 24 and 23 vintages, the former showing greater acidity and the latter more body. I was quite taken with the 23 Chiroubles Cuvée Grille Midi and came away with a few bottles. Madame Passot confirmed that Chiroubles has the steepest slopes in the Beaujolais and that it is not easy to find people to work the vines for that reason.
Our final visit was to Domaine du Clos du Fief (Michel and Sylvain Tête) in Juliénas whose vineyard holdings amount to 16 hectares. We were greeted by Michel, who is of retirement age, and who put us through a tasting of 9 wines, mostly 23s: Chénas, Juliénas, Saint Amour, and Moulin-à-Vent. He was also one of few producers to pour Bourgogne Rouge and Blanc (Pinot Beurot). These were good, but I would be inclined to stick with the Beaujolais. The wines were forthright, fruity, and hit the sweet spot. I couldn’t help but pick up a carton. How do resist when such good Cru Beaujolais costs just 14 euros a bottle?
The purpose of the trip was to discover a new region not overrun with people willing to spend any amount of money on famous names, but to explore fruity, delicious, early-maturing wines in a region with a lower and more friendly profile. The only grower who responded condescendingly to a request to visit their cellars was Domaine Guffens-Heynen, admittedly one of the stars of their region, but we managed very well to do without. We also had an “in” at Domaine Lafon in Milly Lamartine, where the winemaker is an Anglo-French woman, but she was unfortunately away on vacation while we were nearby.
Bottom line: if you like Chardonnay and you like Gamay, the Mâconnais and Beaujolais are tremendously fun regions to visit. The people there are truly welcoming, the countryside is beautiful, the prices are reasonable… What’s not to like?
I had hoped to include the Côte Chalonnaise, but this proved to be too far away for our itinerary, so that will be for another time.
First of all, we were all really taken with the region, with its rolling vine-covered hills as far as the eye can see. We stayed in Vergisson, a stone’s throw from Fuissé and near to two impressive geological formations rising from the plain, La Roche de Vergisson and the more famous Roche de Solutré.
Our trip encompassed the Mâconnais and the Beaujolais. While the former region is clearly Burgundian, what about the latter? The answer is that Beaujolais is entitled to several Burgundian appellations (indeed, much of the white wine used to make Crémant de Bourgogne comes from the Mâcon area), and the interprofessional organization BIVB includes Beaujolais within its remit. That having been said, of course the Gamay of Morgon and the Pinot Noir of Vosne-Romanée are different beasts, as are Mâcon-Viré and Puligny-Montrachet though made from the same grape.
Easting out is attractivelyl priced in Southern Burgundy and, as much as I love the wines of Bordeaux, I have to admit that the cuisine in the Lyonnais and in Burgundy is richer and more varied…
Anyway, here’s a thumbnail description of where we went in 4 days (17 wineries):
The first winery was only visited by myself and my wife, Christine. This was the Hameau Georges Duboeuf in Romanèche-Thorins. Try to imagine a downsized French version of a wine Disneyland and you have pretty much captured the spirit of the place. This is definitely for the general public and not terribly worthwhile for the wine geek. Nevertheless, it was something to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon and the several wines we tasted were good, but not great. The late Georges Duboeuf was referred to as the King of Beaujolais, and he did, in fact, do much to promote the appellation worldwide.
Group members all met up on Sunday evening in the city of Mâcon and stayed at the Hotel Mercure there. This was within walking distance of the Maison des Vins du Mâconnais, which has a restaurant open on Sunday evenings. That suited us just fine and we had a simple, filling meal accompanied by local white wines plus one red AOC Burgundy.
We kicked off on Monday at Château Fuissé, quite the traditional estate with 40 hectares of vines. We were taken around the cellar by Bénédicte Vincent who spent a lot of time describing the complexities of introducing the classification of 22 Premiers Crus in Pouilly Fuissé starting with the 2020 vintage. She was not very tender with the bureaucracy overseeing things… We tasted though six Puilly Fuissé wines from the 23 and 24 vintage, including their “monopole”, Le Clos (3 hectares). The wines were quite good, but not the finest we tasted.
Next stop was Domaine Cordier, also in Fuissé, where we had a great time with Christophe Cordier, a very personable and dynamic winegrower. He practices organic and biodynamic viticulture on 35 hectares of vines, 30% of which are premier cru. We tasted five wines which we found very impressive. As for Mâcon Villages wines with an appended name, this can be very confusing seeing as some 27 different towns are entitled to do so... But when you hit one of these right, they can be real gems, and champions in terms of quality/price ratio. This was the case for Cordier’s 23 Milly-Lamartine “Clos du Four”. Selling at 20 euros a bottle, we were enchanted. We bought cartons of the stuff, as well as some of his premiers crus, which are world class.
Lunch: THE place to go in Juliénas, a 20-minute drive from Cordier, is Le Coq. However, my wife suggested a more downmarket, but more authentic restaurant just up the street, Le Sarment. The 19 euro menu, including Beaujolais and coffee proved to be just the ticket and it would be hard to find better value for money anywhere in France.
Our next visit was to Domaine de La Roche Noire in Chénas. Tanguy Balvay is the friend of someone I know. A real salt-of-the-earth kind of guy, he is not really used to visitors, but welcomed us warmly. Like so many vignerons, he is a one-man band, singlehandedly doing just about everything it takes to make wine from 18 hectares of vines. We tasted his 24 Beaujolais Blanc, 25 Chénas, 25 Saint Amour, 24 Mouln à Vent et 25 Moulin-à-Vent. These were all good basic wines sold at very competitive prices. One group member bought 5 or 6 cartons.
The last visit of the day was to Domaine Richard Rottiers in Romanèche Thorins We weren’t able to meet the man himself because he splits his time between Domaine des Malandes (29 hectares in Chablis) and the Beaujolais. His 5 hectares of vines in Beaujolais, farmed organically, produce excellent sturdy wines and several of us walked away with bottles of his Moulin-à-Vent – an appellation which, when it’s very good like this, can be reminiscent of a fine Pinot from the Côte d’Or, particularly with age.
The next day started out with a visit to Domaine J.A. Ferret in Fuissé. We had a tremendously informative visit with the young, but experienced manager, Clément Robinet. Ferret was acquired by Jadot in 2008 and has always positioned itself as an élite producer of Pouilly Fuissé, with prices to match. Whole bunches are pressed in three presses, which seemed a bit like overkill at first, but with over 70 plots on 20 hectares, timing varies considerably… Ferret introduced a very unusual system for identifying their vineyards: “tête de cuvée” and “hors classe”. They have retained these names but also including “premier cru” where appropriate. We had a fascinating tasting of 6 wines from the excellent 2023 vintage, from village level to the top of the range, Le Tournant de Pouilly. The wines were uniformly good with that uniquely Burgundian controlled reduction, that “matchstick” aroma that managed never to go too far. The wines are expensive, but also very good.
Next stop was Château de Beauregard, also in Fuissé, where we were looked after by Frédéric Burrier, a friend of one of our group members. Beauregard has belonged to the same family since 1854 and has 37 hectares of vines. As opposed to the Côte d’Or, this was the only visit that included barrel tasting, always an interesting experience. The range of wines we tried was quite large, starting with the 24 Milly Lamartine, the 22 Saint Véran (an appellation which we generally came to see as tremendous value for money), 23 village Pouilly Fuissé, 22 Les Cras, Pouilly premier cru, and 23 La Maréchaude, another premier. The quality was uniformly high. Frédéric invited us to stay for a “mâchon”, a Lyonnais word for a simple snack of charcuterie, bread, and Beaujolais, but this turned out to be a full-fledged meal with a number of wines, including some quite old. This was an unforgettable experience.
Our car started to be weighed down with all the purchases we were making…
From Beauregard we went to Domaine de La Croix Senaillet in nearby Davayé. This is a modern, well-run estate with 25 hectares of vines owned and managed by the Martin brothers. We tasted through 3 wines from the 23 vintage and two from the 22. The wines were clean and irreproachable, but most seemed a little too angular for my taste.
The last visit of the day was to Château de Pierrelos, a lovely castle dating back centuries. The estate has 11 hectares of vines. It is a tourist attraction in its own right, which means that much of the wine is sold to sold to visitors, at somewhat higher prices than most other producers. We tasted through 7 wines but, unfortunately, none really stood out. The overall level was OK, but nothing special.
Our third day started with a visit to Clos la Roilette in Fleurie. They have 14 hectares of vines in several crus. We were met by the owner, Alain Coudert, in a very old-fashioned cellar. We had to step over pipes to reach the tasting room and Monsieur Coudert seemed rather gruff at first, but ended up warming to us, especially when we told about tasting his wines in our respective countries, which most of us had. The Roilette label is unforgettable! We quite enjoyed the wines: 24 Brouilly, 24 Fleurie, 24 Fleurie Cuvée Tardive, 23 Moulin-à-Vent, and the 22 Fleurie La Griffe du Marquis. These are good no-frills wines and several of us bought cases to take back home.
We enjoyed lunch at the Maison des Beaujolais in Belleville-en-Beaujolais, which also claims to have the largest selection of Beaujolais wines anywhere. The food was OK and we were guided in selecting wines to drink at table. This is a good mid-range establishment and great for wine lovers. Prices are quite affordable.
We then went to visit Domaine Marcel Lapierre in Morgon. There wines are fairly well distributed in France, especially in restaurants, and I had tasted them before. Lapierre have 20 hectares of vines, of which 18 are in Morgon. They are one of the most famous names in the appellation and were pioneers in organic and biodynamic winemaking. We were welcomed by Italian son-in-law Georgio and tasted through recent vintages of their wines. Some of them border on the so-called natural fringe and were thus not to my taste, but it transpired that the same wines could be treated conventionally or not, depending on their clients’ desires… I did not come away particularly impressed, nor did my friend who is usually a real Lapierre fan.
We finished out the day with a vist to Château Thivin in Odenas. This turned out to be one of our favorite producers. Thivin has been in the Geoffray family for five generations and we were warmly welcomed by Monsieur Claude Vincent Geoffray, who is semi-retired and has largely handed over running the estate to his son and Swiss daughter-in-law. We tasted ten wines from the 23 and 24 vintages, which we thoroughly enjoyed. I picked up a carton of the Beaujolais Blanc Clos de la Rochebonne, which was more than a curiosity. We were surprised to learn that you can put up to 15% Chardonnay into red Beaujolais. The cru wines, were all very good, and I had a soft spot for the 24 Côte de Brouilly. In any event, everyone in the group agreed that this was a stellar domaine. They even produce a weird and wonderful cuvée, Utopia, from 50% Prior, 40% Chambourcin, and 10% Souvignier – all varieties that are naturally resistant to most vine diseases.
Our final day in the Beaujolais started with a visit to Domaine Jean Foillard. We tasted through their basic AOC wines as well as their Morgon and Fleury. These were more or less in the natural wine movement of Lapierre, but were less marked by the trend and therefore more enjoyable. Still, none of the wines really moved us.
The next visit was improvised: I had heard good things about Domaine Mee Godard and since we were in Villié-Morgan and had an hour to kill, I called on the spur of the moment to ask if we could come by and taste. This is not my usual way of doing things, but Madame Godard was kind enough to receive us. All here wines lived up to her reputation: a fine 24 Beaujolais Blanc, wonderful 23 and 24 Morgon Côte de Py, and a delightful 23 Moulin-à-Vent. This were some of the most elegant wines we tasted during our trip and they were moderately priced to boot.
Lunch was enjoyed at La Terrasse en Beaujolais in Chiroubles. As its name implies, this sits on a hillside with a commanding view of the wine country. The wine list is also good, the price is right, and the portions are gargantuan. I ordered a coq au Beaujolais and was served a mammoth portion I could not hope to finish. Dessert went by the board.
Our first afternoon visit was to Domaine de la Grose Pierre in Chiroubles, an estate with about 10 hectares of vines. We were met by Pauline Passot a young winemaker full of enthusiasm. Her range consisted of fruit-forward wines in the true Beaujolais mold. Like everywhere else, there was a clear difference between the 24 and 23 vintages, the former showing greater acidity and the latter more body. I was quite taken with the 23 Chiroubles Cuvée Grille Midi and came away with a few bottles. Madame Passot confirmed that Chiroubles has the steepest slopes in the Beaujolais and that it is not easy to find people to work the vines for that reason.
Our final visit was to Domaine du Clos du Fief (Michel and Sylvain Tête) in Juliénas whose vineyard holdings amount to 16 hectares. We were greeted by Michel, who is of retirement age, and who put us through a tasting of 9 wines, mostly 23s: Chénas, Juliénas, Saint Amour, and Moulin-à-Vent. He was also one of few producers to pour Bourgogne Rouge and Blanc (Pinot Beurot). These were good, but I would be inclined to stick with the Beaujolais. The wines were forthright, fruity, and hit the sweet spot. I couldn’t help but pick up a carton. How do resist when such good Cru Beaujolais costs just 14 euros a bottle?
The purpose of the trip was to discover a new region not overrun with people willing to spend any amount of money on famous names, but to explore fruity, delicious, early-maturing wines in a region with a lower and more friendly profile. The only grower who responded condescendingly to a request to visit their cellars was Domaine Guffens-Heynen, admittedly one of the stars of their region, but we managed very well to do without. We also had an “in” at Domaine Lafon in Milly Lamartine, where the winemaker is an Anglo-French woman, but she was unfortunately away on vacation while we were nearby.
Bottom line: if you like Chardonnay and you like Gamay, the Mâconnais and Beaujolais are tremendously fun regions to visit. The people there are truly welcoming, the countryside is beautiful, the prices are reasonable… What’s not to like?
I had hoped to include the Côte Chalonnaise, but this proved to be too far away for our itinerary, so that will be for another time.