Finding the Values in the Mâconnais with Domaine Renaud
I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: the Mâconnais is where the preponderance of white wine values in Burgundy resides. Luckily we are flush with many great producers in Mâconnais, and one of our greatest is Domaine Renaud. The family team of Mirielle (mother) and Pascal (father) along with their children Guillaume (son) and Amandine (daughter) makes incredible value-oriented whites that fit any budget—especially when we’re talking about the under $20 space. The Renaud family draws from their impressive vineyard holdings that run from humble Mâcon-Village all the way up to 1er Cru Pouilly-Fuissé.
If you’re curious about the 2023 vintage you can get your first taste here in four of the Domaine Renaud offerings. The 2023 Domaine Pascal & Mireille Renaud Mâcon-Villages $17.99 is a compilation of multiple villages strewn throughout the Mâconnais and gives great insight into what to expect from the 2023 vintage. White flowers, wisps of orchard and citrus fruits are set against a zippy palate of pure, fresh water on stone accented by the subtle fruit notes. This easily competes with any unoaked Chardonnay from anywhere in the world.
What’s truly exciting here in the Mâconnais is the diversity of small villages here, which leads to wines that each have a very individual feel. Take the 2023 Domaine Pascal & Mireille Renaud Mâcon-Charnay $19.99, coming from vineyards located right next to the town of Mâcon and showcasing a richer feel than the Mâcon Villages or the Mâcon-Solutre. Yellow fruits on the nose tend toward yellow plum and starfruit with a spicy feel and round edges. This richly-textured Mâcon is flat-out delicious.
The 2023 Domaine Pascal & Mireille Renaud Mâcon-Solutre $19.99 is the last of Renaud’s under-$20 offerings and is easily the most elegantly structured of the trio, thanks to its proximity to Pouilly-Fuissé. It shows intriguing hints of white flower, poached green apples, and just the faintest touch of Asian pear on the palate. High-toned and fresh, this is a beauty and any lover of understated French whites will immediately be captivated.
A small bump up in price brings us to the 2023 Domaine Pascal & Mireille Renaud St-Véran $24.99, from vineyards which lie next to the villages of Solutré and Vergisson. There is more richness and depth here with a denser core of fruit and more material. This is a sophisticated, more serious wine.
Now we move into the higher rent district, 1er Cru Pouilly-Fuissé. We have three offerings from Pouilly-Fuissé, which, as of the 2020 vintage, has 24 1er Cru vineyards. The only 2021 vintage wine we still have from Domaine Renaud is the 2021 Domaine Renaud Pouilly-Fuissé 1er Cru "Aux Bouthières" $39.99, hailing from a vineyard site close to Solutré renowned for producing wines of crystalline elegance, medium body, and great persistence. This version is no exception with poached orchard fruits, hints of wets stone, and a vivacious energy all coalesced here to produce a fabulous 2021.
The 2022 Domaine Renaud Pouilly-Fuissé 1er Cru "Aux Chailloux" $39.99 is from the first vineyard to your right as you leave St-Veran to go into Pouilly-Fuissé. The wine has that typical broad-shouldered feel one associates with St-Veran. The fruit here is more orchard fruit tending toward apples and pears with just a wisp of stone and mineral. This wine is flush with fruit and really fans out on thr palate to reveal a beautiful white Burgundy for under $40.
My favorite of the three 1er Crus the 2022 Domaine Renaud Pouilly-Fuissé 1er Cru "Vers Cras" $39.99 comes from a site that in prehistoric times was a freshwater lake. The wine here is fine and elegant with pure orchard fruit notes, hints of saline, white flowers and green fig all rolling across your palate as this balanced, elegant offering peacocks its complexity.
If you’re looking for under $40 1er Cru white Burgundies then you should stop and grab these tremendous bottlings!