Background

Coming from a long ancestry of 11 generations of father-to-son winegrowers, François Raquillet took over the estate in 1990 with his wife, Emmanuelle. The estate grows 14 hectares of vines and provides a wide range of white and red wines.Mercurey is a Côte Chalonnaise village appellation. It is one of the most important wine appellations in Burgundy with 670 hectares of vines.

Tasting notes

Voluptuous body, notes of fresh red fruits, and a smooth and unctuous texture. Underbrush of spicy tobacco notes and cocoa beans.

Winemaking

Completely destemmed then gravity fed into stainless steel containers, the grapes are then placed in vats for cold (12°) pre-fermentation maceration for 5 days. Fermentation occurs naturally with indigenous yeasts present on the grapes and in the fermenting cellar. Alcoholic fermentation in vats and malolactic fermentation in barrels. Very little punching down of the cap, pumping over twice a day on a daily basis is preferred. Devatting after 12 to 15 days followed by pressing. Pressed juice and free-run juice are combined before being kept in barrels for 12 months (20% new barrels). After light filtration, the wine is bottled.

Food pairings

Paté en croute, creamy cheeses, roasted red meat and poultry.