Domaine Merlin : Saint-Véran Village "Le Grand Bussière" 2021

Tasting Characteristics and Tips for the Saint-Véran Village "Le Grand Bussière" 2021 from Domaine Merlin

Tasting

Appearance

The wine displays a golden-yellow hue with green highlights, bright and beautifully intense.

Nose

Highly expressive, the nose reveals aromas of white flowers alongside lightly muscat-like and exotic notes. Citrus fragrances, notably orange zest, mingle with touches of tropical fruits such as pineapple and passion fruit.

Palate

The attack on the palate stands out for its finesse and flattering character. A silky texture envelops the palate while an elegant, finely chiselled minerality gives structure to the whole. Lively acidity brings freshness, while the long, saline finish extends the sensations with impressive persistence.

Food and wine pairings

This Saint-Véran is an ideal match for scallops, whether served raw, lightly seared, or prepared as a mousse. It also pairs beautifully with fresh poached fish, a veal chop, or sweetbreads. Soft cheeses such as goat’s cheese, Comté, Beaufort, or Gruyère also make excellent pairings. Semi-cooked foie gras finds a partner of choice in this wine.

Serving and cellaring

The Saint-Véran Village "Le Grand Bussière" 2021 is best enjoyed at a temperature between 10 and 13°C.

An elegant, mineral Saint-Véran from the Burgundy Mâconnais

The estate

Domaine Merlin was founded on January 1st, 1987 by Olivier and Corinne Merlin, who took over the former Vieux Saint-Sorlin estate in La Roche-Vineuse. Starting from an initial surface area of four and a half hectares, the estate now spans twenty-two hectares across several appellations in the Mâconnais and Beaujolais. Olivier and Corinne Merlin still run the property, joined since late 2017 by their sons Paul and Théo. As wine craftsmen, they practice environmentally friendly viticulture without certification, favoring manual work, horse ploughing, and respect for each vine as a living being. Their wines are recognized for their balance, purity, and authentic expression of the terroirs of Burgundy.

The vineyard

The Saint-Véran Village "Le Grand Bussière" comes from a four-hectare plot located in the commune of Prissé, within the Saint-Véran appellation. The Climat Le Grand Bussière enjoys a south-southeast exposure at 370 meters above sea level, on slopes of around 10%. The shallow Quaternary clay-limestone soils, rich in limestone, give the wine its hallmark minerality. Planting density reaches 10,000 vines per hectare. The vines are trained in arching canes and are tended with meticulous manual work, including individual hoeing of each vine from May onward. The harvest is carried out by hand in small wooden crates, with this plot among the first to be picked at the estate.

The vintage

The winter of 2021 was marked by a frost episode of rare intensity affecting the entire French vineyard. A milder spring allowed flowering at the end of May, followed by particularly rainy months of June and July. Weather instability continued from mid-July to mid-August, before more favorable conditions at the end of summer made it possible to achieve optimal grape ripeness.

Winemaking and aging

After the manual harvest, the Saint-Véran Village "Le Grand Bussière" 2021 is pressed directly as whole clusters. The must undergoes a light settling before being transferred into oak barrels for fermentation. Aging takes place in two phases: twelve months in oak barrels, then six months in stainless-steel tanks. The wine receives a light filtration before bottling, without fining, thus preserving its natural aromatic richness.

Grape variety

100% Chardonnay