2022 Les Heritiers Saint-Genys Cuvee Clovis Monopole Clos Marcilly Mercurey Premier Cru 750 ml

Only 500 cases of the 2022 Les Heritiers Saint-Genys Cuvée Clovis Monopole Clos Marcilly Mercurey Premier Cru were produced. One hundred of them came to the United States. Restaurants and sommeliers get their share, which means the number available to wine lovers who aren’t already on the inside is smaller still.

Mercurey is the overachiever of the Côte Chalonnaise—an appellation whose best Premier Crus hold their own against bottles from the Côte d’Or that cost two or three times as much. For wine lovers who know their way around a Burgundy map, it’s one of the last places where the math still makes sense. This wine tips those scales further still.

Clos Marcilly is a monopole—a single vineyard under sole ownership, with its own AOC designation. The concept will be familiar to anyone who has spent time with the great estates of the Côte de Nuits: Romanée-Conti and La Tâche are monopoles. To own and farm one is a responsibility of the highest order, and a privilege that commands serious attention at any price level. Clos Marcily was among the first five Premier Crus recognized in Mercurey, back in 1943. The vines were planted in 1947 and 1956, only a few years later 

When Les Heritiers Saint-Genys acquired the vineyard in 2011, they enlisted Stéphane Derenoncourt—one of the most sought-after consultants in the world of fine wine—to help realize what it could do.

The winemaking reflects that intent at every step. Grapes are hand-harvested and rigorously sorted. Fifteen percent whole-cluster inclusion adds body, mouthfeel, and the characteristic pencil-shaving note that marks the finest expressions of the appellation. The wine aged for 20 months in 25% new French oak and was bottled without fining. The result is a wine of extraordinary concentration and precision—one that rewards patience but doesn’t demand it.