The domain of Olivier and Corinne Merlin is located in the predestined village of Roche-Vineuse (literally: wine rock!) in the Mâconnais region. Bourgogne, Mâcon and Beaujolais form the core range of the domain. Olivier studied oenology in Beaune and then worked as a cellar master in the Jura, where he met his wife Corinne. In 1985 he left for the Californian Napa Valley to vinify two vintages. At the beginning of 1987, he took over the 4.5 hectare Domaine du Vieux Saint-Sortin. The old and dilapidated domain had been in the hands of the same family since 1750. Since then, the successful advance of Olivier and Corinne seems unstoppable. Olivier combines ancient wine wisdom, keen observation and hard work in the vineyards, with modern technology. An indispensable part of his philosophy is leaving a cleared and plowed vineyard fallow for 4-5 years. No synthetic pesticides or fertilizers are used, in Moulin-à-Vent even old-fashioned horsepower is used in the vineyards. Nothing trendy talk, but pure old-fashioned common sense. The result can be summed up in four words: Balance, Purity, Complexity and Harmony

Olivier Merlin's Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru "Les Chevrières" is made from a plot of seventy-five year old vines with the argilo-calcic soils through which a vein of iron oxide runs. The wine is barrel fermented and aged in cask with ten percent new oak for eighteen months prior to bottling.

The Les Chevrières has an excellent bouquet of apple, peach, hazelnut, chalky ground notes, dried flowers and buttery oak. In the mouth the wine is deeply full and complex with a fine core of fruit, good soil signature, a good base of acidity and fine length and grip on the complex aftertaste. Always very limited availability and is a wine that can 'plunge' for 10 years without any problem

FACT: In the tab: Appendix you will find the official fact sheet of this wine. We will automatically send it to you when you order this wine.