DOMAINE LORENZON
Mercurey
Bruno Lorenzon took over the family-owned domaine from his parents in 1997. Assisted by his sister, Carline, Bruno runs this Mercurey Domaine with precision and passion.
In 1997, the domaine totaled 4,5 hectares of vines. Following his father footsteps, Bruno Lorenzon carefully grew the domaine by acquiring top parcels in Mercurey and around. Today, he looks after 9 hectares of vines, mostly located in 1er Cru appellations: 6 hectares in the Mercurey appellation and 3 hectares in the Montagny appellation. The vineyards are planted in approximately 85% Pinot Noir and 15% Chardonnay.
Domaine Lorenzon’s wines are pure, elegant, possessing beautiful finesse and the subtleties characteristic of their specific terroir. The wines are at a level rivaling those of great producers of the Côte d’Or!
In the Vineyard
Bruno follows a rigorous work ethic in the vineyards convinced that “great grapes are 90% of the work, they must be produced with a minimum of intervention and a maximum of understanding”.
For more than 30 years the Lorenzon family has been working without pesticide and herbicide and yields are consistently a mere fraction of their neighbors.
In 2004, Bruno made the decision to implement high-density planting in all of his vineyards. The vineyard of Les Champs Martin is, for instance, planted at 20,000 vines per hectare, which is double the norm in Côte d’Or. The vines are also trained very tall, up to 1.70 meters to maximize exposure to sunlight for photosynthesis.
To avoid soil compaction, Bruno ploughed the soils with a light tractor. He also aerates the soils in the spring to release the nitrogen necessary for the plant to reach its maximum size, but also to control weeds with a system of inter-plant plowing.
The harvest is carried out manually in 6-kilo boxes and the grapes are sent to the winery in refrigerated trucks.
In the Cellar
In the cellar, attention is paid to every detail to safeguard the wines' finesse and precision. Bruno’s approach is contemporary yet deeply rooted in traditions.
The Chardonnay grapes are whole-bunch pressed for 4 hours with skin contact to extract phenolics and fine lees material. Fermentation takes place in old barrels for 6-8 weeks. The Pinot Noir grapes are fermented with partial stem-inclusion. The fermentation- maceration lasts about 4 weeks during which, punch down is performed every 3 or 4 days.
Both red and white wines spend a year in 20 to 40% of new wood. Prior to taking over at Domaine Lorenzon, Bruno served as the international commercial director of a cooperage in Mercurey. He is now extremely particular about his oak selection. He selects all barrels’ raw material in the forest and produces his own barrels. His preference is to use barrels with very light toasting that will allow a very subtle but harmonious integration of the wood.
Aging is followed by 6 months in stainless steel vats before bottling without filtration and finning. Bruno uses very only a small amount of sulfur throughout the entire process.
“Bruno Lorenzon’s exceptional wines continue to expand the parameters of the possible in the Côte Chalonnaise, shattering the glass ceiling that’s typically imposed upon the wines of Mercurey.”
Mercurey 1er Cru
Pièce 13
Bruno Lorenzon blends fruit from no fewer than 13 plots of Pinot Noir to make this super cuvée of Mercurey. It represents the culmination of Bruno Lorenzon's work.
Only 1,800 bottles are produced each year.
Mercurey
Pièce 15
This cuvee is produced from 15 small, old-vine parcels of Chardonnay growing on calcium-rich soils that Bruno Lorenzon considers his finest plots.
Mercurey Village Rouge
Clos du Chapitre
This cuvee comes from a 1.4-hectare plot of Pinot Noir in the heart of Mercurey.
Mercurey 1er Cru Rouge
Champs Martin
The red Champs Martin is made from a total of 1.1 hectares of densely planted Pinot Noir on stony limestone soils.
Mercurey 1er Cru Blanc
Champs Martin
The Mercurey 1er Cru Blanc Champs Martin is made from a total of 1.10 hectares of Chardonnay vines. The vines are densely planted (12,000 vines per hectare) in the center of the vineyard on stony soils.
Montagny 1er Cru
Truffières
This Montagny 1er Cru, Les Truffières is made from a 0.9-hectare parcel of 40-year-old Chardonnay vines.
Bourgogne Blanc
Clos Alfred
Clos Alfred is produced from a 0.8-hectare plot of 35-year-old vines planted in very high density.
