Production: 30 000 bottles (2000 magnums)Alcohol: 12.50 % alcohol / Volume.

Marketing: France for the traditional market, and exports.Bottle: Traditional, green glass Bordeaux bottle.Packaging: Yellow cartons printed with Château Mercier, strength 40 kg, 12 bottles packed horizontally with dividers, D 48.7 x W 31 x H 17 cm = volume 0.0257 m3 .(possibility on request for packaging in cartons of 6 bottles or wooden boxes).Weight : 1.30 kg

Pallet: returnable EUR pallets 80 x 120 cm, layers of 5 cartons + 1 carton in the middle, 50 cartons or 600 bottles. Stretch-filmed and hooped.

Bar code EAN 13: Added on request. Bottle: 3 76004532 024 8 Carton of 12 bottles: 3 76 00 4532 224 2

CHATEAU MERCIERPhilippe, Martine et Christophe CHETY

5 MercierF- 33710 Saint Trojan

Tel : +33 (0) 5 57 42 66 99 Fax : +33 (0) 5 57 42 66 96Site : www.chateau-mercier.frEmail : info@chateau-mercier.fr

2000

Cuvée Prestige

CHATEAU MERCIERCHATEAU MERCIERCHATEAU MERCIERCHATEAU MERCIER

The jewel of Mercier12 months in oak barrels

A vintage which speaks for itself

** Two stars in the 2003 Hachette Guide.

Bronze at theWorld Wine Awards Decanter.

Red Côtes de Bourg.

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée.

Review of the vintage: 2000 - a legendary yearWe imagined it, we dreamt of it… and there it was. The Year 2000 represented the far-flung destination of an inaccessible millennium, another day, another form of viticulture, of oenology, other wines from elsewhere. This vintage is different from all the others (as all the others are !) and yet it is the vintage we

were hoping for ever since we've been making wine.The early part of the season was difficult, with severe pressure from disease and weather conditions detrimental to flowering up until the start of ripening. Six weeks of dry, sunny weather as from August 15 nevertheless made it possible to

obtain an exceptional degree of ripeness. Hervé Romat, consultant oenologist

Tasting: What better way to end a century ! “The complexity, the concentration and the finesse are a sheer delight for the eye, the nose and the palate. The balance is perfect. A wine which expresses its vintage, its terroir and its superb grapes …” (Hachette Guide 2003, two stars **). Full-bodied on the palate with an elegant and above all long finish, reminiscent of very ripe stone fruit.

An exceptional vintage to enchant the vast majority of wine-lovers.

Serving tips: its fleshy, elegant tannins make it the ideal wine for a juicy steak, and its ripeness would go well with a chocolate dessert.

Conservation: it will need 5 or 6 years of cellaring to come round fully. Its cellaring potential exceeds 15 years.

Harvesting: Mechanical for maximum precision in determining the start of the harvest.Fermentation : between 28° and 31°C.Vatting: 3 to 4 weeks in lined concrete vats.

Ageing: 22 months in 90% French and 10% American oak barrels. Transfer performed in January with 35% of new barrels.Fining: egg whites.

Bottling: on the estate, 22 months after the harvest.

Average age of the vines: 25 yearsPlanting density: 5,000 shoots / hectare

Pruning: double Guyot with 6 to 8 buds per vine.Cropping: with maximum observance of nature for sustainable farming with grassing and leaf-removal in the plots.Yields: from 40 to 45 Hl/hectare.

Area: 7 hectaresSoil: Windborne alluvial topsoil over red, flinty, clayey gravel.Grape varieties: Merlot 50%, Cabernet Sauvignon 30% and Cabernet Franc 20% on slow-growth root stock