Mercurey, Côte Chalonnaise
Twelve hectares in the Mercurey appellation, worked by hand by a family of winegrowers for thirteen generations. Red and white wines, village and Premier Cru, that express their terroir without detour.
The estate
Born into a line of winegrowers going back 13 generations, François Raquillet began working the vines with his father in 1984 and took over the estate in 1990 with his wife Emmanuelle. He changed its philosophy at once: lower yields, first-rate barrels.
A lover of vines and grapes, and a keen golfer, François brings the estate to its best each year. Since the 2018 harvest their daughter Jeanne has joined them; she now leads the vinification of the reds. The succession is in place.
13
generations of winegrowers
12
hectares farmed in Mercurey
3,5
hectares classified Premier Cru
100 %
hand-harvested, sorted berry by berry
François and Jeanne Raquillet, the handover under way.
The terroir
At 670 hectares, Mercurey is one of Burgundy’s most significant appellations. Our vines lie between 230 and 320 metres of altitude, on the marls and marly limestones of the Oxfordian.
Deep marls give the most structured wines; on stony soils born of decomposed rock, the wines turn suppler and finer.
Pinot Noir, small tight bunches, thin skins with blue-black glints. Chardonnay, loose berries turning golden at veraison.
10,000 vines per hectare. The competition between plants reduces the number and size of the grapes, and concentrates the juice.
Around 40 hectolitres per hectare in red, 50 in white. Deliberately low, to reach for substance.
Our wines
1er cruMercurey red
A wine for keeping, poised between power and structure, with very silky tannins and a mineral finish bringing freshness. It refines gradually towards a smoother texture after a few years, the most complete of the estate’s Premiers Crus.
Pinot noir
1er cruMercurey red
The southern exposure brings black fruit aromas to this Premier Cru, powerful yet round and fleshy. A sun-filled, generous wine, broad on the palate, with a fine texture that asks only to evolve slowly.
Pinot noir
1er cruMercurey white
This cuvée gives a saline, smooth wine with fine tension and great freshness. Ample and rich, easy to drink, holding a fine balance between acidity and structure. The use of large oak vessels supports that balance.
Chardonnay
Mercurey red
A generous, fruit-forward wine of real depth, with an intense colour. Hugely expressive, it bursts on the palate, a village Mercurey with nothing to envy of a Premier Cru.
Pinot noir
Awards
Le Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France
The estate is featured in
Vintage 2024
The Premiers Crus are straight-backed wines with rich, generous aromatics.
A new red Premier Cru joins the estate in 2024: Mercurey 1er Cru Les Combins. It is a highly expressive, powerful wine. The plot’s south-facing exposure brings generous fruit aromas, centred on cherry, and gives a wine that is firm on the palate and very silky. A wine for medium-term keeping.
A new white also joins the estate in 2024: Mercurey Chamirey. From a young plot marked out within a walled clos at the heart of Chamirey, it takes its place with a fine wine of elegant tension built around citrus aromas. Aged in a one-year-old 400-litre barrel, the oak folds in perfectly, with great freshness. A wine meant to be drunk young.
Come and see us
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Frequently asked
The estate has no online shop. Orders are taken at the cellar, by telephone on +33 (0)3 85 45 14 61, or through the contact form. We will then tell you what is left in the cellar, vintage by vintage.
It depends on the wine. The village Mercurey are made to be drunk young, between two and seven years depending on the cuvée. The Premiers Crus ask for more patience, four to ten years. Each wine page gives its own cellaring window.
Premier Cru marks out plots whose terroir consistently gives deeper wines, better suited to keeping than the village cuvées. The estate makes eight of them, on four and a half of its twelve hectares, including Les Veleys in both red and white.
The estate is at 19 rue de Jamproyes, 71640 Mercurey, in the Côte Chalonnaise (Burgundy), about fifteen minutes from Chalon-sur-Saône.
Yes. The cellar welcomes visitors Monday to Friday, 9am–12pm and 2pm–6pm, and Saturday 9am–12pm and 2pm–5pm. So that we can receive you properly, visits and tastings are by appointment.
The estate makes fifteen wines in the Mercurey appellation: ten reds from Pinot Noir and five whites from Chardonnay, village and Premier Cru, including Les Veleys, Les Naugues, Les Vasées, Clos Paradis and Clos des Barraults.
The estate has been certified in sustainable viticulture since 2016 and High Environmental Value (HVE) since 2022. The harvest is entirely by hand and the soils are worked alternating ploughing and cover crops.
The estate farms 12 hectares of vines in Mercurey, 4.5 of them classified Premier Cru, planted at 10,000 vines per hectare.
Another question? Write to us.
