Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon Mâcon-Villages 2022

For decades, the local wine cooperatives of southern Burgundy’s Mâconnais had given the region a bad name for over-cropped, easy-drinking and largely uninteresting Chardonnays. Today, the region is seeing resurgence, thanks in no small part to the efforts of Dominique Lafon. The region’s historical and cultural richness was intriguing to Dominique, and he had enjoyed visiting winemaking friends there for years. These visits soon inspired him to plant roots in new pastures. Researching the Clos de la Crochette, an ancient vineyard site, led him to believe that the parcel could very well be one of the first planted to Chardonnay by the monks of the nearby Abbaye de Cluny.

For a visionary like Dominique, this was just the beginning. Convincing his family of more than thirty members to buy the land and invest outside of the Côte d’Or was no small feat. Understanding the potential of the region, this ardent terroirist ventured south with something to prove, and in 1999, he purchased 14 hectares of vineyards, bringing his new-found passion for biodynamic farming with him. Soon after setting up shop, Caroline Gon, already an accomplished winemaker, came on board and has been the head winemaker ever since. Using many of the techniques from Lafon’s legendary estate combined with Gon’s understanding of the Maconnais, they craft nine inspiring cuvees of Chardonnay. Treating many of these once-unknown parcels like premier crus,they allow them to go through malolactic fermentation and barrel aging. As such, they have not only elevated the standing of Mâcon, but have also given Burgundy lovers a terrific and cost-effective alternative to the Chardonnays of the more prestigious Côte de Beaune.