Time flies…was it really the 2000 vintage that first came to our warehouse in March 2002? Apparently, it was. Back then, Marie-Pierre Manciat had branched out from the family business, and was operating on a smaller scale than today, under the Larochette-Manciat moniker. Come 2006, there was a homecoming and she re-joined the Manciat-Poncet team.

There is a very small amount of red wine made here – some Pinot Noir for Bourgogne rouge, and some Gamay for a Mâcon-Bussières rouge. But really, it’s all about the Chardonnay in the Mâconnais. Things have been changing in this region. Yes, it’s still one of the biggest producers of solid white wines, found in every brasserie and bistro; but growers are also realising that if they exploit their ‘terroirs’ carefully, keep yields low, and go easy on the oak-ageing, what emerges in bottle can be seriously good. Marie-Pierre in a nutshell.