One of My Winemaker Idols, The Superstar of the Chalonnaise - Mercurey's Francois Raquillet

A few times in every generation, a winemaker comes along who forces you to rethink your entire notion of a region.  Francois Raquillet is such a winemaker.  A lucky few of you have had the wines of

Thomas Bouley - Raquillet is the Thomas Bouley of the  Côte Chalonnaise.  I do not say this lightly.  Wines from the Côte Chalonnaise are considered value wines (i.e. very solid and relatively low prices).  Raquillet's wines are not value wines - they are world class wines that I would drink with the best wines in the Cote d'Or and  not flinch. They taste like a cross between Gevrey and Vosne with that delicious Pommard black cherry fruit.  Raquillet is one of the growers like Laible that I've long idolized and really had to work to get his wines - I am ecstatic to be offering them.

These wines sell out in France quickly so I needed to offer my small allocation today.  If you like Pinot Noir, you need to buy them.  I am offering the 2012 Francois Raquillet Mercurey 1er Cru "Les Naugues" for little $33.99 on the 4-pack.   One of my clients remarked recently with a great tasting note on a Mobitz Koepfle Pinot Noir, "this is why we drink wine;" that is how I feel about Francois' wines.  They are utterly brilliant expressions of Mercurey. For me, he is the best. Black cherries are the hallmark of Mercurey and this has so much juicy black cherry fruit with such purity and a delicate mineral tinge the wine will make you rethink what Mercurey can be. The "Les Nauges" also has great structure and an incredibly meaty element. The depth of this particular wine and the pure unadulterated force of it are just incredible. The mouthfeel, the deep fruit, the sexy velvety tannins, the slightly wild side which is always there in Mercurey (I find it in Derain and Meix-Foulot) that cannot be tamed or refined is there as well. This represents a tremendous value in the 2012 vintage as to get this much wine you need to be paying more. A lot more.

Francois is an extremely genial guy and we bonded, over all things, basketball.
He loves basketball and, no surprise, French born Tony Parker is his favorite player. He is in charge of the local basketball league and has a hoop in his outdoor area outside the winery. Obviously, he's a a Spurs fan big time and is in the post fifth ring after glow right now.  

The Cote Chalonnaise is a different beast than the Cote d'Or. It is 10 minutes south of Chassagne-Montrachet but seems like a different world. It is idyllic, pastoral and very peaceful, despite a small stretch of ugly highway blatant commercialism of car dealerships, children's entertainment complexes, mini-malls and god knows what else to get there, but Mercurey is beautiful. Francois' cellar is immaculate. One of the cleanest cellars I have ever seen. Right up there with Herve Murat. The tasting was remarkable. The consistency was terrific. I loved every wine and he allocated me a few things to start off with. Francois also pushed the quality level through the roof as he does not green harvest but cuts 50% of the buds at bud break, which is pretty unique. He also farms sustainably and uses indigenous yeasts for fermentation which is always welcome at Fass Selections and gives these wines an aromatic complexity that is just stunning. It will get more stunning with age as well. In 5-7 years the secondary complexity will just leave you sniffing  all night.
 
One of the things I look to achieve with my portfolio is range. I want high quality across all the appellations or the most that I can work with given my model. Eventually new producers will be a rarity in Fass Selections e-mails, and many of you will buy the same guys each year. That is the end-goal here with this e-mail list. Unfamiliar names that will become familiar and even smile-inducing. That is the best way to describe the brilliant Mercureys of Francois Raquillet.  
 
 As usual with most of my offers, this is incredibly limited.

2012 Francois Raquillet Mercurey 1er Cru "Les Naugues" - $35.99 
($135.96 4-pack) (LIMITED)