2021 Dureuil-Janthial Mercurey Rouge

Standing unquestionably at the very apex in this region is Vincent Dureuil, who for the last 25 years has worked tirelessly to raise the image of this historic appellation through his organic farming and commitment to showcasing the village’s terroir with an unparalleled range of white and red Rully. Vincent took over the domaine from his father Raymond in 1994 at the tender age of 24. Vincent has always been an elite “switch-hitter”, with an ability to make both red and whites of EQUAL quality. In Burgundy, where there is a clear geographic dividing line between red and white, there are only a handful of producers who can claim such an attribute. For Vincent, the magic starts in the vineyards. Since taking over the estate, Vincent has worked under organic principles, with each site treated as one would treat their own personal garden. His approach in the cellar is classic and minimalist. For the whites, the whole bunches are pressed slowly and racked straight into barriques, about 20% of which are new. Fermentation begins with indigenous yeasts, with little sulfur used at any point except before bottling. The wines are aged in barrel for 12 months after which they are racked to tanks for a further 4-6 months of aging, depending on cuvée. The reds are mostly destemmed with some small whole cluster employed for the single-site wines and given a cold maceration of 8-10 days in old wooden upright fermentation tanks. They ferment slowly before being racked into barrique (25% new) and aged for 12 months. After another 4-6 months in tank, they are bottled unfined and unfiltered.