MCF Rare Wine
Mercurey et Irancy
Another day, another Burgundy...amirite?
Well, not really...
...today it's actually two of them...
...from vastly different parts of Burgundy, expressing two very different terroirs.
Both wines are flat out delicious, old-school Burgundy though.
No frills, no affectation...just classic Pinot Noir in two contrasting forms.
The Jacqueson estate in Rully is already a legend in the Côte Chalonnaise of Burgundy. Established in the mid 1940s, by Henri Jacqueson, the estate, now in the hands of his son Paul, has grown to be a benchmark in the area.
While their white Rully garner most of the attention, their Mercurey rouges are equally fabulous. For proof, I offer today's 2022 Mercurey 1er Cru Les Velleys, a wine of generous, dark, herbaceous berry fruit, with a deep, earthy complexity suspended over a powerfully stony backbone.
In addition to being the paradigm for what 'outer borough' Burgundy can be, this is also one of those wines that's so irresistible right now, but is only going to get better and better in the coming years.
Then, at the opposite end of the Pinot Noir spectrum, we have William Charriat, in the Northern appellation of Irancy, near Chablis, in the Yonne.
The red wines of the Irancy have a reputation for being rustic and stern in their youth...but, if you're like me, you read those two descriptors and think, 'sounds pretty good to me'.
Like the other great producers in Irancy (Richoux, Guyot) Charriat doesn't try to sex-ify the wines with strictly-from-commercial winemaking, but rather revels in the cool, stony terroir.
His firmly structured wines spend an extra couple of years in the cellar before release, allowing that chiseled backbone to loosen up, so that the lovely, floral aromatics and savory nuance can emerge.
The best part about today's offer, though, is the fact that not only do we have the current release of 2018, which is just beginning to blossom in delicious fashion, but we also have a library release of the beautiful 2009 in magnum.
The classic, yet generous 2018 is dark fruited and flowery, with a fabulous savory nuance and stern mineral edge.
The 2009, on the other hand, from what was a very solar vintage, is softer and broader, with a wonderfully cool-climate transparency to it. While it's already 15 years of age, it's still quite sprightly and, like a proper Irancy, hasn't lost its charmingly surly edge.
If you want to know how classic Irancy drinks when young and when mature, it's like...
...your lucky day...
...must've been some kind of rare lunar event or something...
P & M JACQUESON
Mercurey 1er Cru Les Velleys 2022
WILLIAM CHARRIAT
Irancy 2018
Irancy 2009 1.5L
You may order by calling 212.255.8870.
Matt Franco
MCF Rare Wine, Ltd
249 West 13th Street NYC 10011
212.255.8870
Looking for a wine you loved from a past newsletter or a favorite you can't find anywhere? Email Raphael at raphael@mcf-rarewine.com, and we'll do our best to find it for you!
