Mâconnais
| Mâconnais | |
|---|---|
| Regions | Bourgogne |
| Departments | Saône-et-Loire |
| Area in km² | ~ 1200 |
| Regional cities | Mâcon , Cluny , Tournus |
| geology | Foothill zone |
| relief | from 167 to 758 m |
| Main production | White wine |
| Neighboring regions | Bresse , Beaujolais , Chalonnais , Charolais |
| Arrondissements | Mâcon |
The Mâconnais is a natural landscape and a former county (→ County Mâcon ) in France with an area of almost 1200 km². The area, whose name from the town of Mâcon is derived, is part of the department Saône-et-Loire and the region Bourgogne Franche-Comté . Its extension roughly corresponds to that of the Mâcon arrondissement . The approximately 110,000 inhabitants of the Mâconnais live mainly - albeit often indirectly - from viticulture. The Mâconnais is not only geographically central, but with a vineyard area of 6,920 hectares (which corresponds to a relative share of almost 25%) also the largest wine-growing region in Burgundy .
A rather small but essential part of the landscape for viticulture is called Haut-Mâconnais . The extension of this sub-area roughly corresponds to the boundaries of the former Canton of Lugny . The municipality of Lugny is the capital of the Haut-Mâconnais.
The dialect spoken in the area is an intermediate form of the Langues d'oïl and Franco-Provençal .
geography
.jpg)
The landscape begins in the west at the northeastern foothills of the Massif Central and extends in the east to the left bank of the Saône . In the north the Mâconnais extends to the city of Tournus on the border with the Bresse countryside and in the south to the Beaujolais . Its main cities are Mâcon , Cluny and Tournus.
The Mâconnais can be divided into three easily distinguishable zones in a north-south orientation. The low-lying area in the east is a fairly narrow band in the Saône valley, the alluvial soils of which are ideal for intensive farming. Not only are the majority of the population concentrated here, but also the long-distance routes such as the A6 autoroute , which connects Paris with Lyon , the tracks of the high-speed train ( TGV ) LGV Sud-Est and the canalized Saône.
The middle zone is formed from the last foothills of the Massif Central. The most sought-after locations for viticulture spread out on their limestone flanks . Since the slopes are on the east side of the mountains, they are climatically favored: The prevailing westerly wind rains down on the west flank and reaches the Saône plain as a dry, warm fall wind .
Towards the west the Mâconnais mountains gain height and the rock becomes crystalline ( granite base). Striking peaks in the north (at the height of Tournus) are the Roche d'Aujoux (487 m above sea level ), the Signal de la Mère Boitier in the center (758 m above sea level) and the Mont Saint-Romain in the south (579 m above sea level). In this mountain zone, livestock and forestry are predominantly practiced .
With a population density of 92 inhabitants per km², the Mâconnais is slightly below the national average.
history
In ancient times , Mâcon was located on important trade routes and if the Celts weren't already growing wine in the region, then the Romans certainly started to do so.
Mâcon was the seat of a diocese in the early Middle Ages and the Mâconnais was dominated by bishops for centuries. The first bishop mentioned in writing was Saint-Placide and was in office from 538 to 555. In 843 the Treaty of Verdun divided the empire of Charlemagne , the Saône forming a natural border between the kingdom of France in the west and the Roman -German Empire in the East. Thanks to its border location, the region benefited from road tolls . Around 850 the Mâconnais became a county (inheritable from the year 926). The last Count Géraud II de Mâcon et Vienne died in 1224 and his daughter Alix de Mâcon (also called Alix de Bourgogne or Alice de Vienne ) sold the fiefdom to the French King Louis the Saint after the death of her husband Jean de Braine in 1239 . In 1435, in the Treaty of Arras , King Charles VII ceded the county of Mâcon to the Burgundian Duke Philip the Good , but after the House of Burgundy died out in the male line with the battle death of Charles the Bold in 1477, it fell - like the rest of Burgundy - back to the crown. In the Peace of Cambrai , the Roman-German Emperor Charles V also recognized the French claim to ownership of the Màconnais.
The Huguenot Wars were bloody for the region. Mâcon was taken on May 5, 1562 by the Protestant leader Charles Balzac d'Entragues , who was usually called applicationuet . On August 18th of the same year, Maréchal Tavannes recaptured the city for the Catholics . On September 29, 1567, the Huguenots again took possession of Mâcon, but they could only hold the city until December 4 of the same year. The Huguenots of Mâconnais were spared from the massacre on Bartholomew's Night, presumably because the then bailiff of Mâcon, Philibert de la Guiche , offered passive resistance and the orders of King Charles IX. not implemented. The area was actually a stronghold of the Huguenots in the 16th century, which also attracted their adversary, the Holy League . However, the latter could not prevent the Huguenot Henry of Navarre as Henry IV. King of France. Although converted to Catholicism out of pragmatism , Heinrich continued to be opposed by the League. It was not until 1594 that the king succeeded in subjugating the Mâconnais and razed numerous villages in the Haut-Mâconnais, in which the last leaders of the league had entrenched themselves.
Until the French Revolution , the Mâconnais was a separate administrative district under the name Les États particuliers du Mâconnais . The province received one twelfth of the don gratuit (voluntary honorary donation of the clergy - originally to finance the fight against the Huguenots), which was drafted in Burgundy; the rest was distributed to the rest of the province of Burgundy.
Immediately after the storming of the Bastille of Paris in 1789, the mountain farmers of the Mâconnais began to revolt. After numerous lootings, many of the rebels were executed by the urban militias in Mâcon, Cluny and Tournus .
Viticulture
The Mâconnais wine-growing region is part of the Burgundy wine region . It stretches in the form of a strip for about fifteen kilometers between the cities of Tournus in the north and Mâcon in the south. The entire vineyard area covers 6,920 hectares and the annual production is around 450,000 hectoliters . 85% of today's production is white wine, historically the ratio was rather reversed: it is known that the Gamay grape suitable for red wine was predominant in the past, but for which most of the soils in Mâconnais are not optimal according to today's knowledge and judgment.
The well-known white wines of the Mâconnais are made from the white grape variety Chardonnay , named after the small village of the same name in Haut-Mâconnais (→ Chardonnay municipality ). If you take only the wines of supraregional importance as a yardstick, then almost the entire production of the Mâconnais comes from Chardonnay grapes, whereby the wines with the designation Pouilly-Fuissé are particularly popular. The Mâconnais also has a small share of the Crus Beaujolais with the name Moulin à Vent . This red wine is made from the Gamay grape. Some Pinot Noir is also grown for local consumption .
Most of the wines from the Mâconnais are considered quality wines , which are classified accordingly and are subject to state control. A complex classification into quality classes is used, which is essentially based on designations of origin ( Appellations d'Origine Contrôlée ). In addition to the vins de table and vins de pays , which are only of regional importance, there are the Mâcon AOC classes for simple wines and Mâcon villages for the more demanding ones, with the Mâcon villages quality class being awarded exclusively to white wines. The products from special locations may also be called Mâcon & "Name of the municipality" , such as the Mâcon-Lugny AOC wine from the Lugny municipality. In addition, the following five wines enjoy the privilege of being classified as so-called Crus Classés (top wines ): Pouilly-Fuissé , Pouilly-Vinzelles , Pouilly-Loché , Saint-Véran and Viré-Clessé .
Qualified communities
The following municipalities are allowed to market their products under the Mâcon AOC designation of origin . Those localities that also have the right to sell the wine under their municipality name are shown in italics. Basically, this is an option that a winemaker can make use of. If he does this, he must adhere to the legally prescribed minimum requirements, which are specified individually for each quality class.
Red, rosé and white wines
Ameugny , Azé , Berzé-la-Ville , Berzé-le-Châtel , Bissy-la-Mâconnaise , Bissy-sous-Uxelles , Blanot , Bonnay , Boyer , Bray , Bresse-sur-Grosne , Burgy , Burnand , Bussières , Chaintré , Champagny-sous-Uxelles , Chânes , Chapaize , Chardonnay , Charnay-lès-Mâcon , Chevagny-les-Chevrières , Chissey-lès-Mâcon , Clessé , Cortambert , Cortevaix , Crêches-sur-Saône , Cruzille , Curtil-sous-Burnand , Davayé , Etrigny , Grevilly , Hurigny , Igé , Jugy , La Chapelle-sous-Brancion , La Roche-Vineuse , Laives , La Vineuse , Lournand , Lugny , Malay , Mancey , Martailly-lès-Brancion , Massy , Milly-Lamartine , Montceaux -Ragny , Nanton , Ozenay , Péronne , Pierreclos , Plottes , Prissé , Saint-Gengoux-de-Scissé , Saint-Gengoux-le-National , Saint-Maurice-de-Satonnay , Saint-Ythaire , Salornay-sur-Guye , Savigny -sur-Grosne , Sennecey-le-Grand , Sigy-le-Châtel , Sologny , Tournus , Vers and Verzé .
Red wines only
White wines only
Fuissé , Loché (now part of the city of Mâcon ), Montbellet , Solutré-Pouilly , Uchizy , Vergisson and Vinzelles .
Overview by appellation
| designation | since | product | Communities | Vineyards in hectares |
Production in hectoliters |
Permitted yield hl / ha |
Alcohol content in percent by volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mâcon AOC | 1937 | white, rosé, red | Various (see above) |
78 | 7,366 | white: 60–75 red / rosé: 55–69 |
white: 10.5–13.5 red / rosé: 10–13 |
| Mâcon & “Name of the municipality” AOC | 1937 | white, rosé, red | Various (see above) |
1,829 | 116.040 | white: 60–75 red / rosé: 55–69 |
white: 11–13.5 red / rosé: 10.5–13 |
| Mâcon villages AOC | 1937 | White | Various | 1,336 | 81.194 | 58-73 | 10.5-13 |
| Pouilly-Fuissé | 1936 | White | Solutré-Pouilly - Fuissé - Chaintré - Vergisson | 757 | 42,929 | 50-70 | 11-13 |
| Pouilly-Vinzelles | 1940 | White | Loché (→ Mâcon ) - Vinzelles | 52 | 2,717 | 50-70 | 11-13.5 |
| Pouilly-Loché | 1940 | White | Loché (→ Mâcon ) | 22nd | 1,825 | 50-70 | 11-13.5 |
| Saint-Véran | 1971 | White | Chânes - Chasselas - Davayé - Leynes - Prissé - Saint-Vérand - Solutré-Pouilly | 680 | 40,832 | 50-70 | 11-13.5 |
| Viré-Clessé | 1999 | White | Clessé - Laizé - Montbellet - Viré | 391 | 22,876 | 55-70 | 11.5-13.5 |
Personalities
The great French romantic Alphonse de Lamartine , born on October 21, 1790 in Mâcon, was inspired as a poet by his homeland. He was also a local politician for the Mâconnais for many years.
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Edmond Chevrier: Le protestantisme dans le Maconnais et la Bresse aux XVIe et XVIIe siècles. Émile Protat. Mâcon 1868, p. 8ff.
- ^ The Encyclopædia Britannica. 17-18, The Encyclopædia Britannica company, Chicago (Illinois) 1926, p. 267.
- ↑ Camille Ragut: Statistique du département de Saône et Loire. Vol. 1, Imprimerie de Dejussieu, Mâcon 1838, p. 39.
- ↑ Burning castles in the Mâconnais vineyards in July 1789 . In: Rolf E. Reichardt: The blood of freedom. French Revolution and Democratic Culture. Frankfurt am Main, 1998, p. 30ff.
- ↑ Chiffres-clés de la Bourgogne Viticole. (PDF file; 43 kB)
- ↑ Hugh Johnson: The Great Johnson - The Encyclopedia of Wines, Regions, and Winemakers of the World. Gräfe and Unzer, Munich 2004, p. 149.
- ↑ Décret du 12 September 2005 relatif à l'appellation d'origine contrôlée mâcon villages et à l'appellation d'origine contrôlée mâcon complétée d'un nom géographique
- ↑ fiche produit et décrets de définition de toutes les Françaises AOC . On: Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité