Giving the south the respect it deserves
You might think our 2018 Burgundy en primeur campaign is long since done with - but not quite. Down in the Cote Chalonnaise, Vincent Dureuil-Janthial refuses to confirm prices or quantities till his wines are safely in bottle. This is part and parcel of the focussed, obsessive approach that has earned him acclaim on all sides; he is widely considered to be the finest producer in the Chalonnaise. La Revue du vin de France (the definitive French wine guide) recently named him their winemaker of the year. Jean-Francois Coche (maker of some of the most expensive white Burgundy ever to grace the planet) famously remarked of Vincent 'If I see his name on a wine list, I don't give it a second thought and simply order his wine'.
The terroir Vincent works does not enjoy the same prestige as the Cote d'Or a little to the north; yet sitting on a south to south-east facing clay and limestone slope, the premier cru vineyards of Rully share many of the defining characteristics of the Cote d'Or escarpment itself. Part of Vincent's secret is treating this terroir with the same respect that is normally reserved for the grander postcodes just a little to the north. Unusually for Rully, all his fruit is hand-harvested. Then there is the fastidious viticulture, low yields, and the high planting densities that force his vines to work harder than they might prefer.
As well as the domaine's 16 hectares in Rully, they also have a few in the Cote d'Or; the domaine's Bourgogne Rouge comes from a blend of vines in Premeaux and Puligny, and the Bourgogne Blanc comes from 40 year-old vines in the lieu-dit La Combe in Puligny. Unusually for a Burgundian vigneron, Vincent is equally adept at making both red and white wines. In his modest way, he pronounces himself 'very satisfied' with his 2018s: in his words, the vintage has resulted in 'rich and generous wines which will keep well'. The combination of a fine vintage, low yields and slow fermentations in deep, cold cellars has produced wines here of great richness and complexity. /NT
Offered subject to confirmation; available now
