In the Southwest corner of the Mâconnais lies the micro-town of Bussieres, a satellite of Grand-Bussieres, which unless you’ve seen it on a wine label you’ve undoubtedly never thought of. It’s quiet here. It’s also, notably, warm here – both in climate and outlook. Gone are the tall wooden frames and taciturn faces of the rest of Burgundy, replaced with flattened terra cotta tiled roofs and tall(er) Frenchmen who will happily return your hug. That the Mâconnais reliably gets more smiles and sunlight has, perhaps, been unfairly held against it by winos who associate burgundian with being reserved and buttoned up, but just between us, that’s a bit …reductive. The terroir of the Mâconnais, especially in the hands of vignerons like the Trebignaud family of Domaine de la Saraziniere, is every bit as compelling as the North and, thankfully, generally accessible quite a bit sooner.

The Trebignaud family have been out here for quite a long time, but the story of the modern domaine began in the 90s when firebrand Phillipe took over and charted a new course for the family business. A mentee of Marcel Lapierre, Phillipe converted his vines to organics and begun experimenting with cutting inputs in an effort to better highlight his unique terroir. This makes the Trebignauds a true rarity in the Mâconnais , where, still, far too many grapes are grown industrially. By contrast, at Domaine de la Sarazinere, the vines are regularly plowed and untreated by any systemics, evoking a sense of ruddy health visible even during our visit in February. As a result of the farming, the Trebignauds’ vines are better able to tap into the thick clay and limestone soils and express the bracing acidity that is the patrimony of the region.

Today, the family owns 28 parcels totalling 8ha over 4 distinct appellations: Mâcon-Bussières, Mâcon-Serrieres, Bourgogne Aligoté, and Mâcon-Village, the majority of which are planted to Chardonnay, then Gamay and then Aligote. In addition, since 2019, the family has leased holdings in Fuisse and has been bottling Pouilly-Fuisse and Pouilly-Fuisse 1er cru starting in the 2020 vintage.

Also in 2020, Phillipe passed on the reins of the winery to his son, Guillome, who has hewed closely to his father’s style and kept him on board. That means hand harvesting, spontaneous ferments, moderate SO2 usage and judicious oak usage. The whites range in complexity from the deceptively simple Aligote, which is one of those “oh whoops we drank the whole bottle,” wines, to the Mâcon-Villages, which, while round and textured, has enough acid to lend a dapper taper. Their Pouilly-Fuisse, by contrast, is bracingly mineral and saline – it’s drinking fantastically now, but our unbelievably pleasant research with back vintages suggests it’s about 6 months away from cracking wide open. Perhaps most interesting, for a domaine so gifted with Gamay and associated with Lapierre, is how the reds are treated. The Trebignauds eschew carbonic maceration and treat their stellar Gamays like their neighbors to the North treat Pinot. As a result, their reds are structured and elegant without the effusiveness one associates with gamay. They’re, also, by the by, gorgeous, a lovely new idiom for a grape we’re all quite passionate about.