Vines in the Mâconnais region have been cultivated since time immemorial, and although some people maintain that the Romans introduced wine growing it seems more likely that Julius Caesar found vines already flourishing when he arrived at the hills of the Saone.

Whatever the truth, numerous documents attest to vine husbandry in the region before the year 1000, the date of the founding of Cluny Abbey, as its own charters bear witness.

The Abbey owned many vineyards in the region and under its guidance vine growing methods improved and winemaking was so perfected that they have changed little up to the present day.


In 1551, the Cluny order gave charge of its vineyards to François Toillon, lord and owner of the newly-built Château de Pouilly. Since the 19th century the Château has belonged to the same family, of which the current owners are the 6th and 7th generation.