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Francois de Nicolay, Macon Village Blanc 2020

Name: Francois de Nicolay, Macon Village Blanc 2020
Brand: Francois de Nicolay
SKU: 19800
Price: 42.0 GBP
Availability: InStock

£42.00

Sale Sold out

Tax included. Shipping calculated at checkout.

Producer Francois de Nicolay

Country France

Region Burgundy, Côte de Beaune

ABV 12.5%

Tasting Notes

Lemon Peel, Pear, Honey, Chalk and Brioche

Explore Further

Biodynamic Bourgogne Chardonnay Fine Wine France Macon Minimal Intervention Organic Vegan White Wine

This Pairs With:

Chicken Cheese Summer Drinking Seafood Fish & Chips

If you need more stock than we currently have, please contact: orders@thebeerhive.co.uk

Product variants

Quantity

Don’t forget your corkscrew 🍷

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✓ Carefully packed by our team in Edinburgh

✓ Free local delivery in Edinburgh and
Falkirk for orders over £35

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More About Francois de Nicolay, Macon Village Blanc 2020

A lovely little bit of natural Burgundy from François de Nicolay. It's 100% Chardonnay from the Mâconnais, made with ambient yeasts and given plenty of time to develop in seasoned oak rather than being pushed towards a big, oaky style. It's bottled unfined and unfiltered, keeping plenty of the wine's natural texture and character.

The 2020 vintage brings a bit of extra ripeness, but there's still plenty of freshness running through it. Think lemon peel, pear and honey with a creamy, slightly nutty edge, followed by chalky minerality and a little brioche. It's the sort of Mâcon that makes a good case for looking beyond the more expensive bits of Burgundy.

Meet the Producer, Francois de Nicolay

Francois de Nicolay

Style: Organic / Biodynamic Winery

Domaine François de Nicolay is a small Burgundy estate based in Baubigny, high above the Côte de Beaune, producing wines from a collection of vineyards around the Côte d'Or. François comes from a long-established Burgundian wine family, with connections to some of the region's best-known estates, but his own domaine is very much his personal project. He established the estate after returning to Burgundy following time spent abroad, including work in California and Australia, and began building a portfolio of vineyards around the Côte de Beaune. Rather than concentrating solely on prestigious appellations, François has deliberately explored less obvious parcels and villages, looking for vineyards where he feels the underlying terroir can produce interesting wines without needing heavy cellar intervention.

The vineyards are farmed organically and with biodynamic principles, with a strong emphasis on soil health and maintaining biodiversity between the vines. François works with a mixture of his own vineyards and grapes sourced from trusted growers, giving the domaine access to a wider range of terroirs than its relatively small size might suggest. The vineyards around Baubigny are particularly interesting, sitting at a higher altitude than much of the Côte de Beaune and benefiting from cooler conditions and limestone-rich soils. That elevation can be useful in Burgundy's increasingly warm climate, helping the grapes retain acidity and giving the wines a little more tension. The domaine's approach is therefore as much about finding the right vineyard conditions as it is about working organically.

François takes a low-intervention approach in the cellar, allowing spontaneous fermentation and using relatively little new oak. Depending on the wine, grapes may be destemmed or left partly whole-cluster, and the wines are generally given plenty of time to develop rather than being heavily manipulated. His whites are particularly expressive of the Burgundian combination of ripe fruit, acidity and limestone-derived minerality, while the reds tend to favour freshness and perfume over excessive extraction. There is a deliberate avoidance of the polished, heavily oaked style that can sometimes obscure the character of Burgundy. The aim is to produce wines that taste like their vineyard and vintage rather than like a particular winemaking recipe.

That philosophy is especially clear in François's Mâcon-Villages Blanc, where Chardonnay is allowed to retain its natural freshness and texture rather than being pushed towards a rich, heavily wooded style. The wine comes from organically farmed vineyards and is fermented with indigenous yeasts, with élevage designed to build texture while keeping the fruit and acidity intact. Other wines in the range move into more specifically Burgundian territory, including Bourgogne Aligoté and Côte de Beaune bottlings, as well as wines from individual villages and parcels. The estate's interest in Aligoté is particularly worthwhile because François treats the variety seriously, giving it the same attention to farming and élevage as Chardonnay rather than regarding it simply as a grape for inexpensive Bourgogne Aligoté.

There is also a strong sense of experimentation running through the domaine. François is interested in old Burgundian varieties and in ways of working that sit slightly outside the conventional appellation hierarchy. Rather than assuming that a Grand Cru label automatically makes a better wine than a Bourgogne, the emphasis is on the quality of the vineyard and the character of the finished bottle. This makes the domaine particularly interesting for drinkers who want to explore Burgundy without simply following the familiar list of famous names. A well-made wine from a modestly classified vineyard can have plenty of personality when the vines are farmed carefully and the cellar work is restrained.

Ultimately, Domaine François de Nicolay is a good example of a younger generation of Burgundian producers looking at the region with fresh eyes. The family background gives François an understanding of Burgundy's traditions, but he isn't particularly interested in being restricted by them. Organic and biodynamic farming, spontaneous fermentation, restrained oak and a willingness to work with less fashionable varieties and appellations all form part of the picture. The wines tend to have the freshness, texture and mineral character that make Burgundy so compelling, but with a slightly more natural and less polished feel than you might expect from the family name. It is a domaine that rewards looking beyond the appellation on the label and paying attention to the person actually farming the vineyard.