100% Pinot Noir

Food pairings: Beef fillet with Époisses, lamb chops and roast game birds.

Winemaking: The grapes are hand-harvested and sorted, and the proportion of destemmed fruit and whole clusters varies with the vintage. Fermentation lasts 15 to 19 days with regular extraction of colour, tannins and aromas; the free-run wine is drawn off by gravity and the press wine is obtained by slow, gentle pressing. The wine ages for 15 months in French oak barrels, 30% of them new.

Vineyards and terroir: This small walled parcel, or clos, once belonged to the Kings of France and is regarded as one of the best climats and the historic premier cru of Mercurey; the Faiveley family bought it in 1971. Facing south-southwest, its cool, compact clay-limestone soil of white marl warms up quickly, giving fine tannins and a length on the palate often compared to the great villages of the Côte de Nuits. The vines were planted in 1971 and 1982. The vineyards are farmed organically, with certification beginning with the 2025 vintage.

Family and history: Founded in Nuits-Saint-Georges in 1825, Domaine Faiveley has been run by the same family for seven generations and is today one of Burgundy's largest vineyard owners, with holdings from the Côte de Nuits to the Côte Chalonnaise. Guy Faiveley first gained access to vineyards in the Côte Chalonnaise in 1933, and the family acquired these properties for the domaine in 1963; Mercurey is one of the three pillars of the estate, with its own winemaking and aging facilities on site. Erwan Faiveley, the seventh generation, now leads the domaine with his sister Eve.

In the pictures: Members of the Faiveley family; Eve and Erwan Faiveley; and the barrel cellar at Domaine Faiveley (photos courtesy of Domaine Faiveley).