2021 Mercurey Rouge La Framboisière (Monopole), Domaine Faiveley

Our shipments from this superb source of great Burgundies date back over 30 years, to the 1989 vintage. This is very much a family business, with François Faiveley’s children, Erwan and Eve, now at the helm. Winemaker Jérôme Flous and his assistant Bastien Giraud are highly talented, and operate within a rebuilt, spacious, state-of-the-art winery in Nuits-Saint-Georges. The superb 125 hectare Domaine includes 13 different Grands Crus and 25 Premiers Crus. Since the 2007 vintage, many carefully thought-through changes have taken place, with work in vineyards and wine-making becoming more closely integrated. They invested in gentler means of transporting grapes from sorting tables to vats, up-graded their temperature control systems, installed a new hydraulic press, and fine-tuned the barrel buying – all to great effect. Jérôme Flous has been here for more than a decade, having previously worked as technical consultant for many top Domaines. The wines have been gaining in richness, fruit density, complexity and smoothness, without sacrifice of ageing potential.