CHÂTEAU DE MERCEY
SANTENAY 2015
CHÂTEAU DE MERCEY
SANTENAY 2015
History
This is a village appellation of Côte de Beaune, Côte d'Or.
This appellation includes 11 Premier Cru "climats", 280.57 hectares of red wines (109.69 in Premier Cru) and 47.70 hectares of white wines (12.80 hectares in Premier Cru).
This wine is produced on the villages of Santenay and Remigny.
Grape variety
Terroir
Vinification and maturing
Grapes are harvested by hand and totally destemmed to avoid any kind of bitterness or unwanted vegetal aromas. Maceration lasts about 3 weeks in order to get wines with a deep color, complex aromas and as a consequence a good ageing potential. Traditional vinification is carried out in temperature-controlled concrete vats – that will allow us to master the fermentation temperatures thanks to the great inertia of concrete - with daily pumping-over and stirring occasionally. Alternating those two methods is a good way to obtain balanced wines because the tannins are not too much extracted. Then, the wine is aged for 9 months in oak barrels with 25% new oak.
Tasting notes
Nose: vanillin with lively blacurrant notes.
Palate: a wine on fruit and elegance with a supple attack, a mouth full of fruit with long and fine tannins.
Wine and food pairing
Ageing potential
Serving temperature
Vintage : 2015
The 2015 vintage was almost perfect; the harvested grapes were very ripe and healthy. After a fairly mild Winter and Spring, we experienced an exceptional, lengthy heatwave towards the end of June. As such the vineyard work in July was limited. Some vine-leaves in certain early-growth vineyards or vineyards planted on shallow soil experienced some sunburn. There was a storm in early August which had various effects on the Burgundy vineyard. As it happens, it was very welcome as it allowed the vine to continue its natural maturity process, as excessive heat can block this. Climatic conditions remained ideal in the build-up to the harvest and allowed the vineyards to retain their impeccable healthy state while gaining full ripeness;
The harvest at the Chateau de Mercey took place under sunshine from the 2nd to the 19th September. Very little sorting was required as the grape quality was so good. The yields were inferior to 2014 but remained fairly average considering the last decade. Maceration of the red wines lasted between 15 and 21 days - this depended on our desire to work on the fruit and structure of the wine, bearing in mind the age and the potential of each vineyard. Natural degrees are satisfactory; the grapes show a fine sugar / acidity balance.
The 2015 vintage is an undoubted success and will result in wines of great richness.