Saone-et-Loire is the IGP title for wines produced in the administrative department of the same name in southern Burgundy. The department is more famous for the AOC-classified vineyards and villages of the Cote Chalonnaise and Macon, but the IGP remains to provide less-stringent vinification laws for producers.
The department lies between the Loire and Saone rivers – the former before it flows north to the vineyards of the Loire Valley and the latter before it heads south through Beaujolais to join the Rhone. The topography of the area is shaped by these two rivers, whose wide valleys are separated by a hilly plateau in the centre of the department.
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As the catchment area of the Saone-et-Loire IGP is defined by administrative – rather than geographic – borders, it is perhaps not surprising that there is great diversity of terroir across the department. In broad terms, Saone-et-Loire has a continental climate with cold winters and warm, sunny summers. However, the presence of the hills means that there are numerous mesoclimates across the department – some of which are better suited to viticulture than others.
The clay limestone soils in the more viticulturally inclined parts of the department have been much lauded for their minerality, although as with climate, there is considerable variation across Saone-et-Loire. Some granite and schist can be found in the hills that run through the centre of the area, and some of the soils found in the river valleys, while still limestone, is denser and retains more water than in other areas.
The grape varieties permitted in the IGP laws are definitively Burgundian: Pinot Noir, Gamay and Chardonnay are joined by the lesser-seen varieties Auxerrois, Sauvignon Blanc and Cesar. Saone-et-Loire IGP wines are often varietal, although as most of the department’s best viticultural sites are dedicated to making AOC-level wines such as Rully or Mercurey, these wines are very rarely seen outside of the region.
Prior to 2009, the department was covered by the Vin de Pays de la Saone-et-Loire denomination, although changes to French wine law have seen the Vin de Pays category phased out since. It has been replaced by Indication Géographique Protégée (IGP) which follows the labeling standards of the European Union more closely.
