2023 Mercurey Clos de la Chiquette, Domaine Charton

This vineyard used to be planted with Pinot Noir, but Vincent always had a nagging doubt that it might be better suited to Chardonnay and so took the decision six years ago to pull it all up and start again. He planted it in fairly high density and is only looking for three or four bunches per vine, wanting to ensure a concentration of fruit. It’s aged in 600 litre foudres, so although 25% are new, the flavour impact of the wood is negligible. It has a nice richness of fruit but Vincent has tried to highlight the stony, saline element of the wine, which he has successfully done. Citrussy and yet textured, this is promising.