The 2020 Mercurey Vieilles Vignes delivers aromas of plums, ripe berries, loamy soil and toasty oak, followed by a medium to full-bodied, ample and succulent palate, with good depth at the core and a framing of powdery tannin.

The 2019 Mercurey Vieilles Vignes is showing beautifully, unfurling in the glass with aromas of berries, cassis, sweet spices, smoked meats and loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied, rich and textural, with fine depth at the core, powdery tannins and succulent acids, it's a fleshy, gourmand red that's already drinking well.

Offering up aromas of spicy cherries, berries and raw cocoa, framed by a deft touch of oak, Raquillet's 2018 Mercurey Vieilles Vignes is medium to full-bodied, velvety and enveloping, with lively acids, melting tannins and a fleshy core of fruit.

Revealing aromas of smoky berry fruit, grilled meats and a subtle framing of new wood, the 2017 Mercurey Vieilles Vignes is medium to full-bodied, fleshy, supple and open-knit, with melting tannins and ripe acids. It's more giving and immediate than the more concentrated wines Raquillet produced in 2015 and 2016, which will lend it even greater near-term charm.

The 2016 Mercurey Vieilles Vignes is superb, wafting from the glass with aromas of ripe cherries, smoky black currants, grilled squab and rich forest floor. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, gourmand and succulent, its tannins beautifully enveloped in layers of juicy fruit. If I had to pick a favorite Mercurey Villages, this bottling would be it; and the good news is that there are fully 9,000 bottles this year.