Description
The wine
The Du Grappin wines are Andrew and Emma Nielsen’s more accessible range — what they call vins de soif, made to be delicious, fun, and refreshing — but handled with the same obsessive care as the Le Grappin Côte de Beaune wines. The Mâcon-Villages is the entry point into the range and one of the most consistently satisfying whites at its price point.
The vineyard sits on the slopes above Azé, westerly facing, with a forest at the top of the slope that shades the vines until mid-morning. Combined with late and high hedging, the site has fewer sunlight hours than most Mâcon vineyards — which keeps alcohol naturally in check and preserves the acidity that makes this wine so refreshing. The soils are white limestone marl, classic Chardonnay soil. Vines range from 30 to 80 years old, farmed organically, with older and shorter rows plowed by horse and younger rows tended by tractor with a light discing so as not to disturb the worms or dry out the soil.
Winemaker’s note
”From a cool-sited vineyard on the slopes above Azé. The vineyard is westerly facing, and with a forest at the top of the slope, the vines are shaded until mid-morning. Combined with late and high hedging, the vines have lower sunlight hours, which help keep alcohols in check and acidity in balance at maturity. The soils are a white limestone marl, classic Chardonnay soil, and the vines, aged between thirty and eighty years old, are farmed organically. The shorter rows and older plantings are plowed by horse, the younger vines and longer rows by tractor with just a light discing so as to not disturb the worms too much nor dry out the soil.
— Andrew Nielsen, Le Grappin
Vineyard & vintage details
Producer: Du Grappin
Appellation: Mâcon-Villages AOC
Grape: 100% Chardonnay
Location: Above Azé, Mâconnais
Vine age: 30–80 years
Aspect: Westerly facing · shaded until mid-morning by forest above
Soils: White limestone marl
Farming: Organically farmed · older rows plowed by horse · younger rows by tractor with light discing
Harvest: Hand-picked · skin maceration several hours
Vinification: Three hour pressing · no SO2 or enzymes · deliberately oxidised and settled 24 hours · racked to 300L–600L barrels (~10% new), 1900L concrete egg, and 1000L foudre · native fermentation · no additions
Élevage: 12 months on full lees, undisturbed · 6 months in tank with lees
Fining / Filtration: Unfined · lightly filtered
Tasting notes
Fresh and precise — citrus, green apple, white flowers, a mineral edge from the limestone soils. The lees ageing adds texture without weight and the concrete and foudre ageing preserves freshness without oak influence. Clean, focused finish with real length. The kind of Mâcon that doesn’t taste like most Mâcon. Drink now through 2028.
Service: 10–12°C. Oysters, shellfish, goat cheese, light fish dishes, summer vegetables.
2024 vintage note
2024 was a challenging growing season across Burgundy — high rainfall and disease pressure required attentive work in the vineyard. For a cool, westerly-facing site like this one, naturally lower in alcohol and higher in acidity than most Mâcon vineyards, the vintage’s character is an asset rather than a problem. The wine is fresh, precise, and true to the site.
About Du Grappin
Du Grappin is Andrew and Emma Nielsen’s more accessible range — wines from Beaujolais, the Mâconnais, and Vézelay made for the table, the by-the-glass list, and everyday drinking. The same organically farmed growers, the same obsessive attention in the cellar, at friendlier prices.
Andrew and Emma Nielsen founded Le Grappin in 2011. They source from the same organically farmed single parcels every year, work without additions, and bottle everything by hand. Named one of The 10 Best Unsung Burgundy Producers by Wine-Searcher.
