The 2022 Mercurey Les Vasées Premier Cru from Domaine François Raquillet is the fruitiest and most approachable of the estate's Premier Crus. It features classic Pinot Noir aromas, a round and supple palate, and a smooth texture. Grown on 60-year-old vines, this wine is elegant yet generous, making it ideal to enjoy now or over the next 5–8 years.

Inside Burgundy | IB 88-91
Published: May, 2023
Drink: 2026-2031

Part young vines, part old vines where they have done 30% whole bunch vinification. The young vines show fresh cherries, medium body, slightly dry at the finish but recently sulphured. The old vines (80+ years) show a much denser black purple colour. Cherry kernels this time. Very dense again, with the tannins of this vineyard showing. Leaves a great red and black fruit aftertaste. The blend has considerable potential, with the younger vines freshening up the concentration of the older component.

Vivino | Vivino 4.2

The nose is very pinot, mouth tasty, round with good texture.

Domaine-raquillet.com

This is the fruitiest, most supple of the estate’s Premier crus. The nose is very Pinot, with a flavoursome, round taste and good texture.

Appellation - Mercurey
Variety - Pinot noir
Situation - Located in mid-hillside and facing south.
Area - 1.13 ha
Sol - Clay-limestone soil
Average Age - 60 years

Cultivation Practices = Simple Guyot pruned. The soil is cultivated mechanically with several tillage operations a year. The vine is debudded to provide light in the middle and obtain optimum health for grapes. Leaves are removed from the vine. This work is an alternative solution to using anti-botrytis. The grapes are picked by hand and placed in boxes. They are then sorted on a table. This is an extremely early plot and harvesting often starts with this vineyard. The vineyards are tended according to the conventional integrated pest management method.

Vinification = 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 15 to 20 days followed by pressing.

Ageing - The wine is placed in barrels (30% new barrels) for 12 months. After light filtration, the wine is bottled. 

Serving = We suggest drinking this wine at 17°, decanting it during the first few years. It is optimum at around 5 years. It can be kept up to 8 years.