Why it matters
The producer
Domaine du Château du Val de Mercy makes white wines from Chablis and Auxerrois and red wines from Côte de Beaune holdings. Bertrand Thibault supervises the vineyards and vinification. He is an engineer-oenologist from a wine growing family, bringing technical training and inherited Burgundy experience to the work.
The range includes Chablis Premier Cru Côte de Jouan, Pommard and Volnay. White and red wines come from distinct Burgundian areas, with named appellations carrying the geography onto the bottle.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Chitry-le-Fort is the domaine's winery location in the Auxerrois area associated with Chablis. Pommard is the winery location in the Côte de Beaune. The geography places a Chablis Premier Cru white, Côte de Jouan, alongside red wines from Pommard and Volnay.
Chablis and Côte de Beaune use different village and appellation names, so the range keeps its northern white wine and southern red wine origins visible on the label.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The domaine owns approximately 30 hectares of vineyards, with 22 hectares in the Chablis appellation and 8 hectares in the Auxerrois area.
Pommard comes from 50-year-old vines. The wine undergoes two to three weeks of maceration in vats, with hand pigeage and pumping over during fermentation. Pigeage keeps the grape skins in contact with the fermenting wine, helping extract colour and tannin.
Wines to know
The range in view
The white range includes Chablis wines, Auxerrois wines and Chablis Premier Cru Côte de Jouan. Chablis 2020 sits beside the more specifically named Côte de Jouan bottle.
The red range includes Pommard and Volnay. Pommard is matured for 18 months in oak barrels, giving the red side of the portfolio an oak aged style alongside the white wines' lees élevage.