A small mosaic of a bunch of grapes made up of pebbles on the cellar floor at the junction of two aisles of barrels caught my eye as Olivier Merlin took me on a tour of his cellars. “That’s beautiful, Olivier. Did you do that?” I asked. “No,” he replied, giving it a casual glance. “That was there when we came, back in ’87.” That was the year Olivier and his wife Corinne set up Domaine Merlin in the village of La Roche-Vineuse, having taken over the Vieux St-Sorlin estate.
My first visit was around 2000, and Olivier did not seem to have changed much on my most recent visit: the same mustache and spectacles in front of friendly, smiling eyes in an open face. He had been easy to photograph back then and still is today. He now has sons Paul and Théo to help as the domaine has expanded.
I asked how the intervening years had changed things. Climate change was probably offering more consistent red vintages, but Chardonnay has become a concern, 2003 having shown what extreme temperatures could do. He still exports a lot, but the past few years of international unrest have dampened demand.
Never ask a farmer to smile, I reminded myself, but Olivier still does so gently, accepting that Nature is in charge, and he just does the best he can.
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Grabbing his keys, Olivier takes me along the street to the cellar door, and we descend a staircase past a shelf of dusty wine bottles—a record of consumption highlights, such as many of us keep. A few serious white and red Burgundies, a couple of Vega Sicilias, a Vin Jaune, even a Bordeaux grand cru. I can report this only because I began with a few portraits here, to get the party started, but Oliver’s expression did not indicate much more than a jovial admission of mild embarrassment.
Outside, the whole building resembles a barn dug into the slopes of La Roche-Vineuse; inside, it becomes a cellar, with its high vaulted ceiling rising over a flagstone floor and a large barn door opening out to the vineyards. In places, the rows are three barrels high.
Olivier seems to be doing okay, his boys already having worked together for seven years, no doubt with Dad on hand to help. Domaines passed down through families tend to change with fresh blood and ideas, so a lot depends on how well the boss takes to retirement. Here, the effect of the transition seems to be limited to using less new oak.
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As ever, I home in on the large door as a light source. The doorway is just the job, giving a view through the interior but not sitting in direct sunlight. Olivier Merlin does not enjoy the camera but easily makes himself comfortable against the stone wall. No instructions are required, but we talk a little, and as I check the results intermittently, he shifts slightly in search of comfort. But it doesn’t take long to get what I want and a few variations. He’s surprised it’s all over so quickly. And as I pause to take another look at the pebble mosaic, he disappears, returning with a bucket and brush. The grapes get a vigorous spring clean, and I get a bonus.
