Mercurey, Côte Chalonnaise
Vineyards at Mercurey, Côte Chalonnaise
(Image credit: Getty)

Waiting patiently for your Burgundies from the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits to reach their fully mature exquisiteness? The five wine-producing communes of the Côte Chalonnaise a little further south provide some excellent options for earlier drinking, advises Clive Coates MW

Mercurey

Mercurey, Côte Chalonnaise

(Image credit: Credit Unknown)

Mercurey is really quite extensive, with 646ha, of which 168ha is premier cru. (To put his in context, Meursault, a big village, covers 439ha. Puligny-Montrachet, one of the smaller ones, 220ha.) The vines lie north of the road that connects Chalon and Autun, and also to the south, in the village of St-Martin-sous-Montaigu. The latter produce firmer and more rustic wines than the former. Overall we find more volume and, at their best, more depth than in Givry – as such, wines from Mercurey are marginally more expensive.

There are 32 premiers crus. The best of these are Combins, Champs Martin, Clos des Barraults, Les Naugues and Clos l’Eveque, from north of the village, and Clos de Roi and En Sazenay from the other side. As in the Côte d’Or, you will find these in mid-slope.

Best growers: Château de Chamirey; Philippe Garrey; Michel Juillot; Bruno Lorenzon; Philippe Menand; François Raquillet; de Suremain; Theulot-Juillet

Domaine Bruno Lorenzon, Champs Martin 1er Cru 2013

18.5 (95)

Whole-cluster vinification. Gently oaky, allowing sumptuous ripe cherry fruit to flood out. Has grace and persistence.

Price: £36.75 (2012) Lea & Sandeman

Drink 2019-2030

Alc 13.5%

Domaine de Suremain, Clos l’Evêque 1er Cru 2013

18.25 (94)

This is a classic. Quite firm but expansively rich. Very good grip. Profound and complex.

Price: N/A UK www.domaine-de-suremain.com

Drink 2019-2028

Alc 13.5%

Domaine François Racquillet, Les Naugues 1er Cru 2013

17.75 (92)

Splendid, rich, concentrated fruit. Abundant and harmonious. A fine, classy wine.

Price: £24.95 Lea & Sandeman, Thorman Hunt

Drink 2018-2027

Alc 13%

Château de Chamirey, Les Cinq 1er Cru 2013

17 (90)

A blend of five of the estate’s premiers crus, assembled at the end of their maturation. Rich, fat and opulent. There’s plenty of fine new oak here.

Price: £55 Montrachet Fine Wine

Drink 2018-2027

Alc 13.5%

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Clive Coates MW
Clive Coates MW
Decanter Magazine, Wine Writer
Clive Coates is one of the world's leading wine writers. He published his first article in 1967. At first he concentrated on Bordeaux, becoming well known for his Chateau Profiles and Vintage Assessments. In 1984 he set up his own magazine, The Vine, and began to spend a lot more attention on Burgundy. Burgundy was going through a revolution, with a new generation of wine-makers who were vinifying more carefully, using temperature control for instance, cultivating their vineyards by increasingly biodynamic methods, and bottling and marketing their wines themselves. Clive was there from the beginning. With a group of professional wine friends he organised comprehensive vintage tastings; at three and en years on. He has written nine books on wine. Three on Bordeaux, three on Bordeaux and three on the Wines of France. He lives in the Mâconnais.