Mâcon-Igé
Château London 2017
A bottle of Mâcon contains a big smile from the south of Burgundy. It has a southern feel to it, as do the Roman tiles that top the flat roofs…
Origin
After a short interruption south of the Côte Chalonnaise, vineyards reappear around the town of Tournus. This region is a great producer of primarily white wines. One out of three bottles of white Burgundy comes from the Mâconnais!
Château London is not a brand name, but a vineyard whose name refers to the fact that its original owner lived in rue Landon in Paris. Over time, “Landon” became “London”.
Viticulture
Grape variety: chardonnay & muscat chardonnay
Soils: chalky white limestone
Orientation: South-West
Surface area under vine: 2.72 ha
Pruning: Guyot system
Yield: 40 hL/ha
Average age of the vine: 35 years old.
Vinification
Harvest date: 14 September 2017.
The grapes were handpicked and were sorted a first time in the vineyard and a second time when they arrived at the winery.
At the winery: the whole bunches of grapes were gently pressed for 2½ hours. The temperature of the must was cooled to 12°C and was transferred directly into 450L barrels without settling of the must in order to keep most of the lees. A long fermentation period using indigenous yeasts.
Ageing
Maturation: aged for 10 months with no racking or stirring to bring out all of this wine’s minerality. 30% new French oak barrels.
Barrels: Oak of French origin toasted at low temperatures for a long time to impart a subtle, delicate touch of oak were used.
Bottling
Bottling: The wine was bentonite fined and very gently filtered before being bottled using gravity in August 2017.
Number of bottles: 17,000.
Vintage
2017, finesse
The growing cycle was thrown off-kilter by a very cold winter, late spring frost, then optimal conditions for rapid flowering, sporadic hail, and summer drought. Harvesting began in early September in the sun, and after several lean years, the vines finally produced abundant grapes, although with significant differences in maturity between whites and reds and from one region to another, which called for strict sorting.
Ageing potential: from 4 to 6 years
Tasting notes
The color is bright pale yellow. The rich and complex nose will seduce you with its powerful floral aromas (rose), associated with notes of exotic fruits and citrus. On the palate, this wine is delicious, dense but keeps a nice freshness.
