Winemaker Notes
The nose sets aromas of black and red fruits against a woody and smoky base. The same greedy, fruity flavors are found on the palate. This wine is well structured with beautiful volume and velvety tannins. All the elements blend together harmoniously giving a silky and hearty wine.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Wonderful aromas of plums, orange peel and stones. Full-bodied, round and soft with a juicy finish. A deep and rich pinot. Fantastic wine. Made from six hectares. Best ever?
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Wine Spectator
Ripe and pure, featuring cherry, blackberry, raspberry, mineral and light toast notes. Balanced and intense, playing out on the long, mouthwatering finish. Best from 2019 through 2032.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Beloved for its deep and flavorful reds made of Pinot Noir, Mercurey is the largest and most important village in the Côte Chalonnaise of Burgundy with most of its vineyards tucked away in hillsides or stretched along the aptly-named “Golden Valley.” This valley, sheltered from the moist and cool air that funnels along at lower elevations, is ideal for ripening Pinot noir.
Mercurey follows strict yield laws, similar to those at the Côte d’Or village level, promoting the development of deep, full, concentrated and age-worthy Pinot noirs. In their youth, a chewy and rich structure supports flavors of ripe strawberry, raspberry and cherry. Age brings notes of underbrush, tobacco and cocoa.
While Pinot Noir claims the majority of Mercurey vineyard acreage, Chardonnay does grow here and produces uniqely floral and spicey scented white wines.