Macon-Chaintré Maison Valette

For three generations the Valette family has lived in Chaintré, a small village on the border between Mâconnais and Beaujolais. They grow wine on fifteen hectares spread over five villages - only chardonnay. Grandfather moved here from nearby Bresse after the Second World War, with no money in his pocket, and started his business with rented vineyards (métayage). The Domaine was created in 1977, when Gérard Valette was one of the first in the area to leave the local cooperative and start bottling his own wine. After completing his winemaking education, his son Philippe joined in 1990 and then decided to convert the family vineyards to organic farming, using biodynamic methods since 1992. The first few years was a lot of trial and error, as the school he taught nothing about such methods. Eventually Philippe figured out how to cultivate the land and prune his vines to allow the individual parcels to express themselves in the wine.
He is a vigneron not inclined to media exposure but today he is a true emblem of natural wines. His wines speak for him, authentic and alive like few others and always able to surprise us, intrigue us and, finally, excite us also thanks to the changeability that sometimes accompanies them. Wines that lead us to rediscover the aromatic notes of chardonnay harvested at full maturity, but always accompanied by the right amount of acidity and a freshness and flavor rare for the Maconnais area and beyond. The long refinements are another characteristic of this winemaker and their tasting will make you discover almost another dimension of the Burgundy chardonnay.