The Paquet Family has been making wine on this property for 3 generations, slowly expanding their holdings to the current 46 acres that encompass the appellations, Macon-Chaintré, Macon-Fuissé, Saint Véran and Pouilly-Fuissé. The name of the property comes from the name of a Roman Lord who lived in the village during the early Roman Empire and probably created the name Fuissé. Jean-Paul Paquet now works with his son, Yannick, a trained oenologist, on the property producing wines with respect for the environment, using organic farming methods and interventions only when absolutely necessary, called the “Lutte raisonée” in French, meaning “reasonable approach”.
The Saint Véran, as all the wines of this property, is made from pure chardonnay. There are about 4 acres of vines of an average age of 30 years, planted on a limestone-clay soil hillside at 230 meters in altitude, with a southeastern exposure.
The grapes are harvested manually and fermented in stainless steel using only natural yeasts. Following the fermentation, the wine is filtered, and allowed to mature, partly in stainless steel vats (70%) with the balance of 30% in old oak “foudres”, very large oak barrels over 300 gallons, until bottling the following March. There are about 9500 bottles produced each year.
This is a fresh and affordable chardonnay from one of the better Macon appellations and is richer in flavor and body than its Macon cousins. This is an elegant and rich wine, showing floral notes in the bouquet, followed by a round and full fruit with a medium body. The aging in foudres adds to the complexity, not with an oaky flavor, but additional maturity that comes from the “micro-oxygenation” that is a natural process when aging wine in a wooden barrel.
You can pair the Saint Véran with white meats and fish with richer sauces and can work well with roasted chicken or turkey.
Jean-Paul Paquet in front of the Saint Veran foudre
www.fussiacus.com
The Paquet Family has been making wine on this property for 3 generations, slowly expanding their holdings to the current 46 acres that encompass the appellations, Macon-Chaintré, Macon-Fuissé, Saint Véran and Pouilly-Fuissé. The name of the property comes from the name of a Roman Lord who lived in the village during the early Roman Empire and probably created the name Fuissé. Jean-Paul Paquet now works with his son, Yannick, a trained oenologist, on the property producing wines with respect for the environment, using organic farming methods and interventions only when absolutely necessary, called the “Lutte raisonée” in French, meaning “reasonable approach”.
