GENERAL INFORMATION

 

Producer: Marie-Pierre Manciat

Country: France
Region: Burgundy
Founded: 1871
Farming: Sustainable
Website: No Website

 

 

Marie-Pierre Manciat was born into a family of vignerons that have been making wine since 1871. From a very young age, she spent her school vacations in the cellars and vineyards, soaking up knowledge and experience, all of which helped her when she took over the reins of her family’s estate in 2002 and became a sixth-generation winemaker. Her family has instilled in her a strong sense of tradition, time-honored winemaking practices, and the value of quality over quantity.

 

Her father, Claude Manciat, was one of the top producers in the Maconnais area. Up until the early 1980s when he took over, the Manciat wines were mainly sold in bulk to local negociants, but Claude decided that he wanted to focus on making and bottling his own wines. Due to his meticulous viticulture and vinification techniques, he has been able to attain a high level of quality, translating into exceptional purity and texture apparent in the wines produced. In addition to practicing sustainable agriculture, the Manciats are among the few remaining vignerons in the Macon that still harvest by hand.

 

Before taking over for her parents, Marie-Pierre had her own pet project, named Lacrochette-Manciat, which she started in 1991. Initially she rented vineyards; then, year after year, she was able to start purchasing parcels, which now amount to 9 hectares. Since taking over for her parents, Marie-Pierre has set her sights high and has tried to better the estate. She now maintains 22 hectares with every bit of the passion she began with, and each year it is reaffirmed with the birth of a new vintage. As she says, this job teaches you to be humble every day—winemakers simply help develop what nature gives them.

 

She also believes in the importance of being respectful of terroir. She believes that the soil greatly affects the grapes, and that the resulting wine is a direct representation of quality of the soil. Marie-Pierre lets each area express itself according to its personality, and each of her wines are aged differently, in either stainless steel tanks or oak barrels. In the end, she believes that wine is above all else, a refreshing drink. This is why she strives to create a harmony between depth, complexity, minerality, and drinkability in all of her wines.