Domaine Faiveley Mercurey Vieilles Vignes 2020, Burgundy, France

2020 is a solar vintage yet the wines show a lot of freshness and no flavors of over-ripeness. The winter was unusually warm with very little rainfall. Heavy frosts happened during spring although a very low level of humidity helped to protect the vines. After a 2nd cold period mid-May, summer was extremely dry aside from a few isolated storms (Nuits-Saint-Georges – Vougeot). The harvest started on August 19th, a historically early date and came to an end on September 1st. This Côte Chalonnaise village takes its name from the God Mercury (God of trade). Mercurey is intersected by the Agrippa road which linked Chalon-sur-Saône to Autun in the Roman era. The wines of Mercurey have given this village its reputation throughout the world. Mercurey is one of the largest wine regions in Bourgogne with over 600 ha of vignes. The grapes are cut harvested and sorted by hand. The proportion of de-stemmed grapes and whole clusters varies depending on the vintage. The wines are pumped over twice daily in order to extract colour, tannins and aromas from the skin of the grapes. After a 15 to 19 day vatting period, the alcoholic fermentation is complete. The free-run wine is run off using a gravity system whilst the marc is pressed slowly and gently in order to extract an exceptionally pure press wine. The wines are aged for 12 months in French oak barrels (10% of which are new oak). The palate reveals a smooth, fruity attack and evolves towards notes of ripe red berries and a touch of vanilla. An intensely aromatic wine with a delicate structure and silky smooth tannins that will win over wine experts and amateurs alike.