MERCUREY

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. His daughter Jeanne now works alongside François slowly taking over the day to day work of the domaine, her passion is really viticulture - so she loves her work in the vineyards and represents the 12th generation at the helm of this stellar property.

With eleven hectares under vine, François has substantially reduced yields over the years, introduced higher quality oak barrels (up to 50% new wood for the Premiers Crus) and significantly increased the quality of wines made here. He and Jeanne explain that they try to avoid over-extraction at all costs - their one aim is to deliver the beautifully pure fruit profile they get out of the old vines - they do this with great success. It is a wonderfully transparent style - combined with good mid-palate weight.

Thankfully there were smiles all around this year once again and the sad story of the terrible run of vintages here (in terms of yield) has finally paused. 2022 was back to more normal levels at harvest and the superb 2023 has also kept the cellar well filled. These wines are great value across the range.