Mercurey () is a commune in the

Saône-et-Loire Saône-et-Loire (; Arpitan: ''Sona-et-Lêre'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the rivers Saône and Loire, between which it lies, in the country's central-eastern part. Saône-et-Loire is B ...

department in the

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (; , sometimes abbreviated BFC; Arpitan: ''Borgogne-Franche-Comtât'') is a region in eastern France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions, from a merger of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The new region ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

of eastern France. The village dates from pre-historic times and is the most widely recognized and important wine village of the Côte Chalonnaise, producing more wines than all other village appellations combined. The composer and musicologist

Nicolas Roze Nicolas Roze (17 January 1745 – 30 September 1819) was a French composer and music theorist. Biography Born in Mercurey, Roze was a choirboy at the , Nicolas Roze was noted for his beautiful voice and received a good musical training. He was ...

(1745–1819) was born in Mercurey. MercureyMairie

History

The town was first documented in the foundation charter for the Saint-Marcel de Chalon-sur-Saône Monastery, which is believed to have been around 580, under the name 'Mercureis'. This was changed in 885 to 'Mercuriacum', became 'Mercoriacus' in 942 and the 11th century brought about another change to 'Mercuriacus'. The name is thought to have been derived from the Roman God Mercury, who in Roman mythology was a messenger for the Gods, as well as the God of trade and abundance, and patron of travellers. According to historical documents the Romans built a temple in his honour when the town was part of one of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

's provinces, located on the

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

Arles Arles ( , , ; ; Classical ) is a coastal city and Communes of France, commune in the South of France, a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Reg ...

section of their strategically important trading route, the

Via Agrippa ''Via Agrippa'', is any stretch of the network of Roman roads in Gaul that was built in the last century BCE by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, to whom Augustus, Octavian entrusted the reorganization of the Gauls. In all, the Romans built of roads in ...

. However, there is no sign of the temple today, although a 13th-century Roman Church still stands in the town. The Romans who cultivated the areas along the Saône tributary which have become the modern day wine regions of

Beaujolais Beaujolais ( , ) is a French ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (AOC) wine in the Burgundy wine, Burgundy region. Beaujolais wines are generally made of the Gamay grape, which has a thin skin and is low in grape tannins, tannin, but like most ...

Mâconnais The Mâconnais () district is located in the south of the Burgundy wine region in France, west of the Saône river. It takes its name from the town of Mâcon. It is best known as a source of good value white wines made from the Chardonnay grape; t ...

Côte Chalonnaise Côte Chalonnaise is a subregion of the Burgundy wine region of France. Côte Chalonnaise lies to the south of the Côte d'Or continuing the same geology southward. It is still in the main area of Burgundy wine production but it includes no Gran ...

and

Côte d'Or Côte Restaurants Group Limited, trading as Côte (formerly Côte Brasserie), stylised as CÔTE is a French-style British restaurant chain founded by Richard Caring, Andy Bassadone, Chris Benians and Nick Fiddler in Wimbledon, London Wimbl ...

. Mercurey is a typical Burgundy wine village set in a hilly landscape, and the municipality as it exists today comes from a merger, between the former commune of Bourgneuf-Val-d'Or with the commune of Mercurey, in 1971.

Wine

Mercurey has many vineyards and is the most important viticultural community in Burgundy. As the largest wine-producing area of the

it has 30 premier cru vineyards. (Clos du Roi, Champs Martin, Clos l'évêque, Clos des Montaigu.....). Around 90 percent of the wine produced is red, from the

Pinot noir Pinot noir (), also known as Pinot nero, is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name also refers to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words fo ...

grape, with 10 percent white wine from the

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, ; ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...

grape pressed with a percentage of

Pinot blanc Pinot blanc () or Pinot bianco is a white wine grape. It is a point genetic mutation of Pinot noir. Pinot noir is genetically unstable and will occasionally experience a point mutation in which a vine bears all black fruit except for one cane wh ...

International relations

Mercurey is twinned with

Genappe Genappe (; , ; ) is a municipality and city of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. Demographics As of 2023, the municipality of Genappe boasted a population of 14,266 residents. Spanning a total area of 89.57 km2 , th ...

, and Melen, French-speaking municipalities located in the Belgian province of

Walloon Brabant Walloon Brabant ( ; ; ) is a province located in Belgium's French-speaking region of Wallonia. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the province of Flemish Brabant (Flemish Region) and the provinces of Liège, Namur and Hainaut. Walloon Br ...

Notable people

Lucette Desvignes Lucette Desvignes (May 1, 1926 – February 14, 2024) was a French writer. Career Desvignes taught comparative literature and theatre history at both the Université de Saint-Etienne and the Université de Lyon, before devoting her career to ...

References

External links