MERCUREY

2018 1er Cru Les Vasées Domaine François Raquillet

EN PRIMEUR

Serious feel here - smart sleek and polished nose. Loaded with dark, brambling, sweeter fruit. But with a sophisticated smart Burgundian Pinot feel. Palate has lift and energy. Delightful textured and with really good flow. The energy here sucks you in and there is a delicious chiselled feel to the fruit. Really pretty Pinot, with much more tension and balance than the nose might suggest. Vasées is a sunny site Francois reminds us - and this adds that extra dimension of charm. (40% new wood, as on all François's 1er Crus.)L&S (Nov 2019)

* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.

The 2018 Mercurey 1er Cru Les Vasées is quite reserved after its recent bottling, offering up aromas of cassis, wild plums and spicy new oak, followed by a medium to full-bodied, bright and lively palate that's very nicely balanced but also a little introverted right now. It will reward two or three years in the cellar. Drinking range: 2022 - 2035 Rating: 90+/100 William Kelley, The Wine Advocate (Jun 2020)

Bright mid crimson. Earthier than the Vieilles Vignes, and probably more complex. Real bite and sophistication here. Quite marked acidity and no shortage of tannin. Quite a crunchy wine with real bite on the finish. Drinking range: 2023 - 2030 Rating: 16 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Jan 2020)

François took over the running of this estate from his father, Jean, in 1990, with his wife Emmanuelle. Records show that the same family have made wine in Mercurey since the 1600s, and Francois is the eleventh generation.

With eleven hectares under vine, François has substantially reduced yields, introduced higher quality oak barrels (up to 50% new wood for the Premiers Crus) and significantly increased the quality of wines made at this domaine. François explains he tries to avoid over-extraction at all costs - his one aim is to deliver the beautifully pure fruit profile he gets out of the old vines - this he does with great success. It is a wonderfully transparent style - combined with good mid-palate weight.

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STORAGE OPTIONS:

Wines bought en primeur are scheduled to arrive in the UK over the course of the next eighteen months. If you do not wish to take home delivery, you may wish to consider where you would like the wines shipped on arrival in the UK. Lea & Sandeman offers duty paid and in bond storage through a dedicated storage company called Elephant Storage. For more details on the terms and fees associated with storage please go to our Storage Homepage or contact our primeurs team for more information.

While helpful, we do not require a firm commitment on delivery destination to process your primeur order at this stage. Our team will be in contact with you when your wines arrive in the UK to confirm the necessary delivery details.

BURGUNDY EN PRIMEUR FAQ

OFFER: All wines are offered subject to availability and final confirmation.

PRICING: All prices are quoted IN BOND ex-VAT, by the case size stated. Please double check that the desired case size does match what is being offered as wines are variously listed in threes, sixes, dozens, halves and larger formats.

DELIVERY - TIMING: This is a primeur offer so the wines are not yet physically available for delivery. They will be shipped to the UK over the next eighteen months. Generally, wines are shipped to your nominated location once the whole order has landed in our London City Bond account. If you require wines to be delivered by a certain date, please advise us at the time of ordering.

DELIVERY - FEES: In bond delivery to an Elephant Storage account (for more information see 'Storage Options' opposite) is free of charge. Transfer of wines to any third-party bond (i.e. not Elephant Storage) will incur an administration charge of £16.50 + VAT for all orders under £1,000. Please indicate if you would like the wine duty paid and a duty & VAT invoice will be raised once all the wines on your order are available for shipment. Once the relevant duty & VAT has been settled, we will ship the wines to your nominated address as per our normal duty paid Delivery Terms.

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