Not be confused with the Mâcon-Villages of the same name (Verget releases multiple cuvées under the name Terres de Pierres, which means ‘stony land’), this cuvée is a blend of both free-run and press juices from a rollcall of excellent vineyards in Vergisson and Fuissé. Les Croux (exposed to the west) and the pressed juices of the Premier Crus Sur la Roche and Les Crays bring the cool, mineral line; the south-facing vines in Les Moulins and Les Littes contribute density and layered texture. So, you get both the steel and the silk. The wines fermented naturally and aged in stainless steel vats (70%) and used barrels for six months without stirring. 

The most steely and compact wine so far, it’s a wonderfully composed white Burgundy with citrus and mineral notes, a rocky, tightly wound texture and a piercing, long, chalk-drenched finish. It’s a wine of great class. Wine writer Gerald Asher once said: “If luxury is never cheap, pleasure need not be expensive.” So, if the price of top Meursault and Puligny leaves you giddy, you know what to do. This wine’s typical depth, power and complexity will be revealed with time. It is still a pleasure to drink now, but three-plus years of aging would be ideal.

Sitting at the crossroads between the Mâconnais and Beaujolais, Mâcon-Pierreclos owes its fame to Jean-Marie Guffens, whose wines under the Guffens-Heynen label (mainly from the Le Chavigne lieu-dit) match the best of the Côte de Beaune for intensity and character. So, it’s great to see this vineyard now appear under the Verget label. This négoce bottling is made from low-yielding vines over 50 years old. 

The vines are situated on particularly rich limestone at the top of the hillside. Made exclusively from first pressings and matured in foudres for eight months, the result is an alluring, balanced white Burgundy showing notes of citrus peel and poached pear set against a zippy, zesty core of fruit. There is a hint of good reduction here, just a touch of struck match that adds complexity to the fruit.

The Mâcon-Bussières vineyard lies north of the stunning Roche de Vergisson, directly below the village of the same name. It sits on a gentle southwest-facing slope, where the shallow soil is predominantly clay and limestone with plentiful stones. Verget’s bottling comes from one of the oldest plots of vines in this vineyard (over 40 years). Again, only free-run juices were used, and fermentation occurred entirely in wood. It was Jean-Marie Guffens who claimed no wine is over-oaked, just under-fruited, and the seasoning here (25% new) is judged to perfection. A class act from beginning to end, this would easily slip into a tasting of more expensive wines from the Côte-d’Or.

Clos Saint-Pierre lies on the south-facing slopes of the Mont du Mâconnais, where soils are varied but limestone is prevalent. The fruit was harvested in the last week of August and the free-fun juices fermented in stainless-steel tanks until the end of November. The wine matured for eight months in tank. One of the more seductive wines in Verget’s 2023 portfolio, it’s nice and dense with layers of fleshy white fruit, red apple and biscuity flavours before a long finish that lingers on the palate without a hint of heaviness.

The ‘Valley of Lamartine’ is named after Mâcon native Alphonse de Lamartine, a French author, poet and statesman who was instrumental in the foundation of the French Second Republic. Now you know. The 2020 is a blend from Viré (40%), Pierreclos (20%), Bussières (20%) and Vergisson (20%), all vinified in used oak barrels. Guffens ages this wine for 12 months on lees to emphasise the salinity of his rocky soils. 

There’s enticing aromas of white peach, beach grass and floral notes leading to a layered, textured palate threaded with sappy freshness and a chalky, savoury complexity that works so well with the Burgundian amplitude on offer. It’s a delicious value wine, with impressive bang-for-your-buck intensity and drive, closing with a salty, lees-enriched finish.

As always, there is serious bang for your buck on offer here. This year’s Terres de Pierres (rocky soils) is drawn from a blend of sources located around the communes of Viré-Clessé and Charnay on Mâcon’s classic argilo-calcaire soils. Then, 20% from the shallow, stony terroirs of Pierreclos, Vergisson and Bussières brings a chalky spine into the mix. As always, the wine is crafted chiefly from free-run juice fermented and then matured on fine lees (for four months with no bâtonnage) in horizontal stainless-steel tanks—designed to maximise interaction between the wine and its lees.