Domaine François Raquillet

The Raquillets family tree shows vignerons back to the 1600s. François started working with his father Jean in 1984 and took over entirely by the ends of the ‘90s at which time he transformed the winemaking. He currently works 11 hectares, all in Mercurey. It is Francois who reduced yields substantially and introduced better quality oak barrels, and who has pushed the domaine to the front of the line.

The best vineyards in any village in Burgundy were usually owned by the king or the church, so a name such as Clos du Roi or Clos l’Evêque (the bishop’s walled vineyard) is a good sign for quality. Raquillet's Mercurey, Clos L’Evêque is the largest of the Mercurey premier crus, principally east facing. The resulting wine is a classic Mercurey with good ageing potential.

The work starts in the vineyard with green harvesting. The vintage is hand harvested in small cases, sorted on a table de tri, 100% destalked, given 5 to 6 days cool soak at under 15°C followed by a further 15 days cuvaison, with punching down twice daily during fermentation. All red wines now receive 30% new wood.