Rully Rouge 2019

Jean-François Coche-Dury is frequently described as one of the greatest winemakers on Earth. Ask him what he likes to drink and he says: “If I see his name [Vincent Dureuil] on a wine list, I don’t give it a second thought and simply order his wine.” This huge praise is well deserved, Dureuil is one of those rare winemakers who is equally adept with red and white. And that’s why La Revue du Vin de France crowned him Winemaker of the Year 2019.

Pronounced ‘Doo-ray John-tea-arl’, Vincent Dureuil-Janthial is much loved by those in the know. Writing for Wine Advocate, critic Neal Martin says: “If someone asks me which wines from Rully they should seek out, I pause for a moment trying to remember the pronunciation before announcing: Dureuil-Janthial.” Fellow wine critic and Burgundy expert Allen agrees: “Dureuil continues to fashion some of the very best wines in the Côte Chalonnaise… Given how inexpensive the wines are in most markets I highly recommend them to you for both quality and value.” So, in a vintage as fabulous as 2019*, this Rully Rouge really is a no-brainer.

Picked from old vines planted in 1974, 1978 and 1980, it’s aged for 12 months in barrel and bottled unfined and unfiltered making it vegan-friendly. An elegant masterpiece of plums, violets, delicate spices, sweet oak and powerful ripe red fruit that has a slightly savoury and earthy edge. A glorious accompaniment to just about any food you care to imagine, or simply sip it on its own. Either way, it’s a win-win.

*2019 was an excellent vintage for Burgundy. Bernard Hervet, the former director of Faiveley and Bouchard said that it could “perhaps rival 1865, the greatest vintage of all.”