Francois Raquillet

Francois Raquillet is a typical modern Burgundian. He retains many strong links to the past but is constantly searching to improve his wines, either through better vineyard work or in the cellar. Blessed with a lot of old vines, he strives to keep yields fairly low, makes full use of a sorting table - which means throwing away a lot of fruit - and in the end the results are fruit-driven, pure wines that see a maximum of 30% new oak and are unobscured by it. Overall the style is robust but perfumed with well done tannins in the reds and dense, herby, citrussy whites. The reds deliver great enjoyment relatively early but repay ageing. Francois himself is a serious man who nonetheless has a twinkle in the eye and is easily provoked to laughter. I like Raquillet`s wines. A lot. For one thing, they taste of Mercurey very much, with a hint of garrigue and they also have Francois` stamp. We talk a lot about terroir but in a village more notorious for its rustic producers than its sophisticated ones, Francois is to be treasured. (CW 17/01/14)