The most structured, serious wine in the range is the 2020 Mercurey 1er Cru Les Naugues, a medium to full-bodied, firm and muscular bottling evocative of rich cassis, loamy soil, plums and sweet spices. Built around tangy acids and powdery tannins, it will demand a bit of patience.

Wafting from the glass with aromas of plums, cherries, dark chocolate and loamy soil, framed by a deft application of new oak, the 2019 Mercurey 1er Cru Les Naugues is medium to full-bodied, ample and lively, with a concentrated core of fruit and rich structuring tannins. Long and penetrating, it's Raquillet's most age-worthy Mercurey.

The 2018 Mercurey 1er Cru Les Naugues is performing brilliantly, offering up a deep bouquet of crushed cassis, blackberries, dark chocolate and spices, framed by a deft touch of new oak. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and concentrated, it's built around ripe, powdery tannins and lively acids, concluding with a delicately vanillin-inflected finish. This will reward a year or two to come together, but it has turned out very well.

Always one of the high points in the tasting, Raquillet's 2017 Mercurey 1er Cru Les Naugues is showing well, bursting with notes of spicy berry fruit, cherries, dark chocolate and grilled meats. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, satiny and altered, with good concentration, bright acids and fine, chalky tannins.

I revisited the 2016 Mercurey 1er Cru Les Naugues from my own cellar, and while the wine is a touch more closed than when I tasted it last year, it's no less impressive, unfurling from the glass with a familiar bouquet of smoky berry fruit, cassis, grilled meats, dark chocolate and rich soil tones. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, broad and enveloping, with a concentrated core of succulent fruit, velvety structuring tannins and a precise, penetrating finish. My intention is to forget my remaining 11 bottles for a year or two, and I recommend readers do the same.