Jean-Pierre & Michel Auvigue are third generation proprietors at Le Moulin du Pont.
Many, many of you love this wine, and it's easy to see why. Macon Solutré has extraordinary purity and subtlety. Which is of course Jean-Pierre Auvigue's trademark. There is nothing heavy about this pure, Chardonnay wine with its elegant minerality and a little citrus with a dash of honey. Jean-Pierre uses just a bit of older barrel oak to add roundness and beautiful mouthfeel.
Another plus: Solutré has a modest level of alcohol which means you can keep your glass filled over those long, leisurely nights and still pop up the next day bright-eyed and chipper.
There is another reason I pour Solutré into my glass on a regular basis: it's an incredible value. We all know the big white Burgundy names (and the big price tags that go with them): Meursault, Chassagne-Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet ($50 plus per bottle). You can't drink those regularly unless you're a baseball player in the show, hedge fund manger, or an Oscar nominee.
You CAN, however, pull the cork on Jean-Pierre Auvigue's Macon-Solutré pretty much anytime you feel like it. And not feel like you're compromising. That's the important part.
The Macon region is actually a handful of several different villages with names like Fuissé and Solutré and Pouilly. There are vineyards associated with these communes. All of the growing areas have been classified (like nearly every wine area in France) according to the quality of the terroir and are allowed to use label names usually expressed as Macon- something, like Macon-Solutré.
These are the wines whose grapes have come exclusively from a specific commune. Macon-Villages, the more general designation (but a big jump up in quality from "Macon") means the grapes can come from several different specific communes or "villages."
The importance of "Solutré" is that 100% the grapes must come from here and this is one of the best of the 'villages' - in fact 50% of it is classified Pouilly Fuisse (and costs twice as much).
Auvigue's Solutré is a wine that can age well for 3 to 4 years, but I always drink it as soon as I get it. It is a fleshy wine which gives it a more viscous feel in your mouth. The Auvigue whites are really great to just sit around with and drink, but I've never refused one a place at my dinner table either. I think you'll be pleased. -Margot Hurley, Cynthia Hurley French Wines
