Description
Domaine Dureuil-Janthial, Bourgogne Blanc
The village of Rully, located in the Côte Chalonnaise, is not on the radar for most “serious” White Burgundy lovers, with one exception: Domaine Vincent Dureuil-Janthial. Since taking over for his father in the mid-1990s, Vincent has garnered rave reviews from across the globe for his preternatural talents in the vineyard and cellar. None other than François Coche, of Coche-Dury fame, is rumored to order wines from D-J whenever he finds them on a list.
Everything that Vincent makes turns to Chardonnay gold, but his sneaky great Bourgogne Blanc is an especially amazing value. It’s a dead ringer for top tier Puligny-Montrachet, but at $40 it’s a wine you can have everyday…if you can get enough! All the D-J wines are extremely limited, so I’m thrilled we have enough, just barely, to offer it today. I expect it will be gone in a flash!
When Vincent took charge of the family domaine, he began making some consequential changes almost immediately. First, he stopped fining and filtering, a practice that his father thought to be “unwise,” but hey, Vincent was in charge now! He also began to reduce the amount of bâtonnage, or lees stirring, and to rack the wines more judiciously. Though a generation younger, he’s often compared with the likes of Jean-Marc Roulot and Dominique Lafon, since all three begin heading in the opposite direction of rich, oak-laden White Burgundy when that became the dominant trend in the early 2000s. Fast forward two decades and Chardonnay winemakers all over the globe are seeking to emulate the taut, precise, mineral-driven style that Vincent helped to perfect.
The most important change that Vincent oversaw, according to him, was to convert all the domaine’s vineyards to organic farming. He received certification almost two decades ago (though he does not put this on his labels) and he is exceptionally proud of the work that he and his team do in the vineyards. One of those vineyards is a small parcel known as “La Combe” that is situated on lower-lying land just below the official boundary of AOC Puligny-Montrachet. Most of the vines here are between 50 and 70 years old, and the geology is a classic mix of clay and limestone. If average temperatures were what they are now when the appellation map was drawn 90 years ago, this most certainly would have been proper Puligny.
After a string of very challenging vintages, 2020 was relatively problem free. There is some of the same power and ripeness as 2019, but Vincent commented that the alcohol levels in 2020 were generally a half a degree lower and the acidities remained balanced and fresh. As noted by Allen Meadows of Burghound, “Dureuil is nothing if not consistent and I found the quality to be excellent.” If you open this wine this summer or fall I would recommend a good 30-45 minute decant to let the hints of smoke and flint burn off a bit (unless you like them!). Serve at 50 degrees in a Burgundy stem and watch as notes of white peach, lemon curd, lime zest and citrus blossom all mingle with hints of white pepper and saline, crushed-rock minerals. Great with almost anything from the sea, it is also a perfect wine for a dinner of grilled, spatchcocked chicken. We don’t have much, and you’ll want a few bottles for the cellar, so stock up now!
