2017 Albert Bichot Domaine Adelie Champs Martin Mercurey Premier Cru Burgundy 750 ml

Albert Bichot has been a longtime Wine Access favorite for their perennially overperforming Burgundies, but we’ve rarely had the chance to offer their most limited-production bottles. Today, however, we’re bringing our members Bichot’s rare 2017 Mercurey Premier Cru Champs Martin.

This Champs Martin comes from one of the top vineyards in the Côte Chalonnaise, a site perched high on a south-facing hill that overlooks the town of Mercurey. There, Pinot Noir vines rooted in iron-inflected clay-limestone soils produce wines with an aristocratic, wound-up power and a cool-toned elegance—especially in a top vintage like 2017.

This the pinnacle of Domaine Adélie, the tiny, organically farmed 7.8 hectare estate that sixth-generation winemaker Albéric Bichot runs in the rising-star Côte Chalonnaise. Launched in 2005, Adélie is the sort of pet-project that caused Decanter to declare “Bichot should be seen as one of the region’s most dynamic, quality-focused and sustainability oriented producers.” 

The nose displays a beautifully earth-driven composite of aromatics, with woodsy forest-floor, truffles, and bright wild berries. The texture is beguiling, blending silkiness with a hidden structure that will allow this bottle to evolve and provide a compelling drinking experience over the next seven years.

Bichot took full advantage of the ideal 2017 vintage, handpicking the grapes at perfect ripeness and fermenting them for a leisurely 20+ days in specially built conical oak tanks designed to achieve perfect extraction and harmoniously integrated tannins. The wine then aged over 14 months in barrel to polish it to perfection.

Our members tend to leave Bichot wines a bevy of four- and five-star reviews—after claiming each allocation with alacrity. Since this treat is as limited as it is impressive, we don’t recommend waiting.