found today, but a more dexterous winemaking touch is also in evidence. In the whites, the wines that avoid what I call the “tropical fruit trap” are the ones with enduring attraction, thanks to a less lush, crisper palate profile. Mercurey has long been seen as the engine room of


Burgundy’s Côte Chalonnaise, a situation acknowledged by the fact that the Côte was once called the Région de Mercurey. That designation didn’t stick, however, and it is now named for the nearby city of Chalon-sur-Saône, which lies a little to the east of the Côte. Its history can be traced back some 1,500 years; not quite to Roman times, though Julius Caesar did write about the god Mercury in his Gallic Wars: “The god [the Gauls] worship most is Mercury: his statues are the most numerous, they consider him as the inventor of all arts, he is the god who shows them the way to follow, who guides the traveler; he is also the most efficient god to help you earn money and he protects trade.” Today, the village of Mercurey is neatly divided by an


arrow-straight main thoroughfare, predictably named Grande Rue, which follows the path of an original Roman road that was part of an important trade route running up from the Rhône and on toward the Loire. So, perhaps it is not too fanciful to speculate that, with such strong links to trade and Rome, the village was named to curry favor from the relevant god. Notwithstanding this ancient lineage, Mercurey’s modern


history begins a tad over a century ago, on May 30, 1923, when a court ruling of the previous day, which created the Mercurey appellation d’origine contrôlée, was made official. The ruling was the result of a court case taken by local winemaker Edouard de Suremain, who sought legal protection for the name Mercurey—specifically to prevent winemakers in the neighboring villages of Rully and Givry from labeling their wines as Mercurey to give them greater visibility, thus boosting sales. In this, Mercurey was ahead of the game, for the whole concept of appellation contrôlée, with its definitions, strictures and regulations, was only beginning to take shape. It would be more than a decade longer before the nationwide system, still largely in place today, was established on a firm legal footing. Whatever celebrations took place to mark the court victory


“Negotiating with de Valera is like trying to pick up mercury with a fork.” To which de Valera memorably replied, “Why doesn’t he use a spoon?” No such difficulties attend the appreciation of the wines


D


of Mercurey, the Côte Chalonnaise village and appellation that takes its name from the Roman god of business and trade. Both the whites and reds have a direct, immediate appeal; many boast bold flavors, though the heavy-shod reds of old are less dominant than they used to be. Those were wines of substance rather than grace, and examples that cleave to that template can still be


avid Lloyd George, the “Welsh wizard,” was noted as a wily operator, yet his skills at the negotiating table hit the buffers when trying to deal with Irish Nationalist leader Éamon de Valera in 1921, leading him to conclude:


cannot have been too raucous or exultant, for these were grim times for Mercurey. All over France, phylloxera had wrought devastation in the vineyards, while World War I brought devastation of a far more tragic nature. Any glimmer of recovery from those catastrophes had to contend with the far-reaching effects of Prohibition in the United States, while, particular to the Côte Chalonnaise, the decline of the local mining industry closed off a strong local market for the wines. As the 20th century progressed, further challenges came by way of worldwide economic depression and another world war. Recovery from this catalog of woe was snail’s-pace slow, but the tale finally took an upturn in the latter decades of the 20th century, and so far the first quarter of the 21st has been largely a good-news story, the looming challenge of climate change notwithstanding.


Extended and worthy centenary celebrations Thus, the good burghers of Mercurey (Les Mercurois?) were well placed to celebrate the 2023 centenary of the court’s ruling and did so by way of a year-long series of events that started with a commemorative ceremony on the exact hundredth anniversary of the decree that granted appellation status. Then followed a


THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 87 | 2025 | 103


All photography by Jon Wyand


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186  |  Page 187  |  Page 188  |  Page 189  |  Page 190  |  Page 191  |  Page 192  |  Page 193  |  Page 194  |  Page 195  |  Page 196  |  Page 197  |  Page 198  |  Page 199  |  Page 200  |  Page 201  |  Page 202  |  Page 203  |  Page 204  |  Page 205  |  Page 206  |  Page 207  |  Page 208  |  Page 209  |  Page 210  |  Page 211  |  Page 212  |  Page 213  |  Page 214  |  Page 215  |  Page 216  |  Page 217  |  Page 218  |  Page 219  |  Page 220