Georges DubÅ“uf treats its 12-ha Mâcon vineyard to a €1.5 million winery

eorges DubÅ“uf may have gained a brand new winery in the heart of the Pouilly-Fuissé appellation area – which has recently introduced Premiers Crus – but it stresses that it is no newcomer to the Mâcon region. The aim rather is to re-establish a foothold in southern Burgundy, as the firm’s new managing director Adrien Duboeuf-Lacombe points out: “My family is very well known for its Beaujolais wines, but people have forgotten that it has been producing wine in Mâcon since the 17th century”. Georges DubÅ“uf, which markets between 15 and 19 million bottles of wine a year, historically owned vineyards in Pouilly-Fuissé, but until now outsourced the winemaking process.

Recalling “the frustration of having vineyards whose potential was under-realised”, Duboeuf-Lacombe refers to a desire by the company to return to its roots. The move seems very natural, albeit not particularly rational from a purely accounting point of view. With 12 hectares under vine, the negociant company has invested 1.5 million euros in a 480 m² winery designed to produce wines from estate-owned vineyards. “The aim with this winery is not profitability, but image. It's a little gem in the heart of the Mâcon region designed to make top-flight wines”, says Duboeuf-Lacombe. The new winery has been operational since the 2021 harvest and it marks a change in style for Mâcon white wines produced by Georges Duboeuf – they are less buttery with greater tension driven by freshness. Basically, wines that capture the zeitgeist.