Mercurey “Les Montelons” blanc ungeschwefelt AC 2019

François de Nicolay is the name of the Négoce business under the management of the family-owned Domaine Chandon de Briailles in Savigny-Lès-Beaune. This means that only wines are produced and sold that do not come from the estate's own land. The grapes, musts or wines used for this come from certified organic or biodynamic vineyards or plants that are in conversion. Vinified in the cellar of Chandon et Briailles, the wines are marketed under their own label with their own label.

Straw yellow, bright with a slightly silky opacity.

The 2019 Les Montelons Mercurey blanc from François de Nicolay oscillates between ripe, yellow fruit, a little citrus abrasion, wet chalky stone after a warm summer rain and slightly salty notes reminiscent of the sea. The scent of warm salted caramel and subtle wood spice floats above. The whole thing is delivered with a confident voice; you won't find the expansive, exalted gesture here. And that is a good thing.

With a dense extract and firm fruit at its core, it is coated in layers of skilful use of wood, stimulatingly tart tannin and the finely crafted acidity that forges everything together and turns it into a great whole on the palate. Straightforward and focused, it bundles the sublime fruit, disciplined by the wood, fluffily buffered by the tannin and driven by the acidity, that is the protocol.