2020 Domaine Derain Mercurey La Plante Chassey

WINEMAKER: Julien Altaber & Carole Schwab
REGION: Burgundy, FR
VARIETAL: Pinot Noir
VITICULTURE: Certified Biodynamic

"This is an interesting cuvee because it has a small amount of Pinot Beurot (Malvoisie, Pinot Gris) blended with the dominant Pinot Noir. (Incidentally, Pinot Liébault, which is a mutant of Pinot Noir is also permitted in this appellation). The Mercurey appellation is increasingly receiving critical acclaim as a number of young winemakers have recognised the attractive nature of the terroir here and are producing wines of considerable elegance. La Plante Chassey is a south-east slope with clay soil. The grapes for this wine are harvested by hand and the wine is fermented in wooden vats before being transferred to old wooden barrels for 18 months. The wine is not fined or filtered before bottling." - Living Wines

Dominique Derain started his career making wine barrels but decided, instead, to study winemaking in Beaune. In 1988 he and his wife Catherine purchased 5.5 hectares of vineyards in Saint-Aubin just south of Beaune and began tending the vines biodynamically and making their wines in a non-interventionist way as well.

A few years ago, Dominique officially retired. His long time assistant Julien Altaber and his partner, Carole Schwab (who also worked for Dominique managing the administration) bought the domaine from him. Julien, in addition to working for Dominique, had started his own domaine (Sextant) some years before, initially making his own wine in Dominique’s cellar, so it was a natural changing of the guard.