Olivier Merlin La Roche Vineuse Les Cras 2018
Note that as I have suggested repeatedly in these pages, if you're not familiar with the Merlin wines, you owe it to yourself to try a few. BURGHOUND
Winemaker Olivier Merlin has 35 vintages under his belt. He’s far from a “new” winemaker; in fact, he’s the most established producer in the Mâconnais, Burgundy’s most southerly terroir. And, while for some producers longevity could translate to complacency, nothing could be further from the truth for Olivier. He is the region’s most dynamic winemaker, and his dazzling cuvées continue to challenge conventional views about the Mâconnais’ reputation for humble wines. INSIDE BURGUNDY
Olivier Merlin is widely regarded as being one of the very finest winemakers in the Mâconnais. Olivier has established a reputation as one of the region’s most dynamic growers, a reference point for the Mâconnais. The whites demonstrate his exceptional winemaking talents, and the potential of “lowly” appellations. They are frequently taken for Côte d'Or wines if tasted blind. JASPER MORRIS MW
His wines are pure, natural expressions of Macon and Pouilly-Fuisse, with a particularly strong hand apropos the latter. Some older vintages also proved that they age extraordinarily well. NEAL MARTIN
There’s one person who transcends everything you think you know about the wines of the Macconais, Olivier Merlin. Tasted “blind” I defy anyone to nominate Macon as the source and not the Cote d’Or. They’re Macon Scotty but not as we know it!
These are wines that at once give you the generosity of fruit you might expect from the region but also tap the vivid characteristics of each vineyard and then, if that weren’t enough, his winemaking dials in restraint and focus like few others have ever managed. There’s vigour, there’s energy to meet the fruitfulness. In each cuvee you feel the innate understanding that 35+ vintages working with these plots affords Merlin. He gets it, and it shows.
He’s quite rightly referred to as the greatest winemaker in the region. We’ve offered his wines in the past and Roscoe in particular, has been his usual “understated” self, telling you all to buy them.
The other day we had the opportunity to taste through a selection of back vintage covering vintages 2021 back to 2018 from various of his single sites. They all sang a different tune according to the site, but one wine was an absolute ripper, the 2018 Macon La Roche Vineuse Les Cras.
Still youthful, still showing a beautifully balanced meeting of the fruit and chalk limestone underpinnings. Through fruit and texture it invites you in and then slowly pulls in at the edges to keep the wine alive and driving straight down the palate. Just a spot on white Burgundy with some age. Like all of Merlin’s wines, you get the Macon with a Cote d’Or restraint and a sense of detail and delineation.
Merlin’s own words about his 2018s ring loudly in this wine when he said,
I like the wines as they should appeal to both those who enjoy more primary fruit but also those who enjoy aging their wines.
These are relatively new to the Australian scene, but in other parts his legend is well-established as a producer of unique and impactful wines that show a next-level
Cheers
Michael
Winemaker Olivier Merlin has 35 vintages under his belt. He’s far from a “new” winemaker; in fact, he’s the most established producer in the Mâconnais, Burgundy’s most southerly terroir. And, while for some producers longevity could translate to complacency, nothing could be further from the truth for Olivier. He is the region’s most dynamic winemaker, and his dazzling cuvées continue to challenge conventional views about the Mâconnais’ reputation for humble wines. INSIDE BURGUNDY
Olivier Merlin is widely regarded as being one of the very finest winemakers in the Mâconnais. Olivier has established a reputation as one of the region’s most dynamic growers, a reference point for the Mâconnais. The whites demonstrate his exceptional winemaking talents, and the potential of “lowly” appellations. They are frequently taken for Côte d'Or wines if tasted blind. JASPER MORRIS MW
His wines are pure, natural expressions of Macon and Pouilly-Fuisse, with a particularly strong hand apropos the latter. Some older vintages also proved that they age extraordinarily well. NEAL MARTIN
There’s one person who transcends everything you think you know about the wines of the Macconais, Olivier Merlin. Tasted “blind” I defy anyone to nominate Macon as the source and not the Cote d’Or. They’re Macon Scotty but not as we know it!
These are wines that at once give you the generosity of fruit you might expect from the region but also tap the vivid characteristics of each vineyard and then, if that weren’t enough, his winemaking dials in restraint and focus like few others have ever managed. There’s vigour, there’s energy to meet the fruitfulness. In each cuvee you feel the innate understanding that 35+ vintages working with these plots affords Merlin. He gets it, and it shows.
He’s quite rightly referred to as the greatest winemaker in the region. We’ve offered his wines in the past and Roscoe in particular, has been his usual “understated” self, telling you all to buy them.
The other day we had the opportunity to taste through a selection of back vintage covering vintages 2021 back to 2018 from various of his single sites. They all sang a different tune according to the site, but one wine was an absolute ripper, the 2018 Macon La Roche Vineuse Les Cras.
Still youthful, still showing a beautifully balanced meeting of the fruit and chalk limestone underpinnings. Through fruit and texture it invites you in and then slowly pulls in at the edges to keep the wine alive and driving straight down the palate. Just a spot on white Burgundy with some age. Like all of Merlin’s wines, you get the Macon with a Cote d’Or restraint and a sense of detail and delineation.
Merlin’s own words about his 2018s ring loudly in this wine when he said,
I like the wines as they should appeal to both those who enjoy more primary fruit but also those who enjoy aging their wines.
These are relatively new to the Australian scene, but in other parts his legend is well-established as a producer of unique and impactful wines that show a next-level
Cheers
Michael
-
Domaine Olivier Merlin Macon La Roche Vineuse Les Cras 2018Here there is a discreet application of wood setting off the equally floral-suffused aromas of mostly white orchard fruit and lemon zest. There is notably more power to the lightly stony medium-bodied flavors that are at once seductive yet punchy, all wrapped in a focused, youthfully austere and dry finale. This too is very good for its level. BURGHOUND
Pure clear and pale, with a formidable nose, very youthful but very promising. No muscat, no oak evident, just pure fruit. Really fine and elegant throughout, on the electric white fruit front, with excellent length. Nothing heavy here at all. FIVE STARS JASPER MORRIS
2018chardonnayFrance427