After studying a year in France in 1976, Maine and Jean-Marie Guffens-Heynen never returned to their native Flanders. Enchanted by the Burgundy vineyard and the land of Vergisson so dear to Lamartine, they cast aside their artistic impulses for the viticulture school of Mâcon. An internship with a producer and here they are now, three years later, at the head of a small vineyard in Pierreclos. Domaine Guffens-Heynen was born. In 1990, the couple decided to expand their activities and create the Verget trading house in Sologny. Breaking with the Burgundian traditions, they would be the first to buy white grapes from the best domaines of Mâconnais, Côte d'Or and Chablisien. The wines are then vinified, aged and then marketed under their own name; excluding trading, the Domaine Guffens also produces Mâcon-Pierreclos, Saint-Véran and Pouilly-Fuissé, and since 1997, VDP of the Vaucluse of the Domaine des Tourettes. Against all odds, these "philistines" mastered the art of Chardonnay, respected by all (including the greatest of the Côte de Beaune), praised by critics, sought after by connoisseurs. The wines from the Mâconnais and the Luberon have acquired a solid reputation; cuvées polished like diamonds, always very pure, and both rich and tense.

Once again, Jean-Marie Guffens has produced a sublime wine. At the end of a precise, perfectly-managed maturation, this Saint-Véran shows itself to be wonderfully well made – just as you'd always expect from Guffens. This wine will need five to ten years' cellaring to deliver its full potential.