Mercurey - Les Vignes Blanches Qvevris Red 2021

Mercurey - Les Vignes Blanches Qvevris Red 2021

Fréderic Cossard

Fresh, wild, and intense, this Mercurey is definitely a pleasure to drink with abandon. Morello cherries, black fruits, cherry, raspberry, and complexity on the nose give way to floral, then mineral and roasted notes. On the palate, there is plenty of fruit, sap, fullness, and density, with silky, melted tannins of great finesse, completely devoid of harshness. A long, fruity, and distinguished finish. Les Vignes Blanches is a Mercurey vineyard where Frédéric Cossard is producing his third vintage. For the occasion, the winemaker vinified and aged it in qvevri (a Georgian-style buried jar), which gives it a patina, rounds it out, and accentuates its velvety texture and depth. Perfect for entrecôte, filet of beef en croûte, and roast duck.

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Through his entirely natural work, Frédéric Cossard gives voice to the terroirs and Burgundy wines, undeformed by agricultural chemicals. Having observed, during his years of trading, the existence of harmful wine-growing practices, the winemaker used this counter-example to practice unadulterated viticulture. Thus, he produces vintages of purity and elegance without artifice that are among the most sought-after in Burgundy. Frédéric worked for some time as a wine broker before creating the domaine de Chassorney with his partner Laure in 1996: initially a few ares of vines in Saint-Romain, Auxey-Duresses and Savigny-lès-Beaune, and currently ten hectares spread across the Nuits-Saint-Georges, Pommard, Volnay, Bourgogne-Hautes-Côtes-de-Beaune and Bourgogne appellations. In 2006, he created his own wine trading house and buys organic grapes to vinify, according to his style and convictions, great vintages such as Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet, Pommard, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Chambolle-Musigny, Vosne-Romanée and several Beaujolais crus. The practice is not limited to Burgundy, as vintages are made from grapes purchased in the Jura, Languedoc, and elsewhere. At his farm, the soil and vines are worked as naturally as possible: regular horse-drawn ploughing, no addition of chemical fertilizers or weedkillers. The vines are tended according to biodynamic principles: homeopathic treatments based on essential oils, copper, and sulfur in minimal doses. The harvest is entirely manual, carried out at full maturity, at the end of October. Red or white, classic Burgundies or more atypical or less "regional" bottles, Frédéric's vintages are rare and sought-after wines, which sometimes require waiting.