MÂCON CHAINTRÉ

We still see Daniel Barraud when we visit but today his children Julien and Anaïs are at the helm here now. They have vineyards in Vergisson that are mostly high up under the famous rock (Vergisson lies between the two dramatic cliffs of the rocks of Solutré and Vergisson). The vineyards here are significantly higher than those of Fuissé, and are consequently later-ripening, and the wines often have a more solid structure - but they each have their own distinct characters, from the Puligny-like directness of the La Roche to the fat richness of the 'en Buland', via the mineral force of the Crays.

All the wines are made keeping close to the tenets of bio-dynamics - not for the sake of it - but because over the generations experience has taught them that these principles really are the best way forward - as such they only ever bottle on a waning moon. All the wines see some barrel ageing apart from the Chaintré, which is aged in foudre (2/3) and tank.

As Allen Meadows wrote on www.Burghound.com 'I have said this before, but I will say it again: no one makes better wine in the Mâconnais than Barraud. There are a few domaines that produce wines that are sometimes just as good, ... but none of them surpasses the quality he consistently produces. If you aren’t familiar with the wines, you owe it to yourself and your pocketbook to check them out.'

With the 2022 releases this 11 HA domaine is now officially certified organic. Formalising the way they have been working for years.

The Barrauds have four vineyards that have been upgraded to Premier Cru status: 'En France', 'Les Crays', 'Sur la Roche', and la Verchère, although this last one will change its name to 'La Maréchaude' but retaining the parcel name of Verchère too. It's one of those oddities of such classifications that the vineyard which has consistently produced the Barraud's best wine for all the years that we have known them, 'En Buland', is not classified Premier Cru status as it faces north - this is electric in 2022.