CHATEAU DE MERCEY MERCUREY PREMIER CRU "EN SAZENAY"

The vineyard of 48 hectares mainly surrounds the Château, built in the 16th Century at the southern edge of the Côte de Beaune, but also extends in the Côte Chalonnaise.
Mercurey is a communal appellation which includes 31 Premier Cru climats. Located in the north of the Côte Chalonnaise, more than 90% of the wine produced under the appellation Mercurey are red wines. They extend on 596 ha, of which 143 are Premiers Crus. White wines are produced on 85 ha, including 13 ha of Premier Cru.
The village inherited its name from the Romans: when they settled in the region, they built a temple in tribute to Mercury, their patron God of commerce and financial gain. 

This “lieu-dit” benefits from a southeastern exposure at an altitude of 250-280 meters above the sea level. It’s one of the best exposure you can find for a vineyard, because it’s the one where the vines will get the most sunlight. One other great advantage of this terroir lies in its being on a slope: vines get just the right amount of water and the amount of sunshine is optimum.
Grown on a clay limestone sandy soil, the vines – of about 50 years old – can give their best.
There, the wines we get are deep and well structured, thanks to this ideal conditions. 

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 regular stirring and pumpings-over. 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 12 months in oak barrels with 25% new oak. It will give the perfect touch of toasted aromas to the wine and its ripe tannins.