2006 Domaine Vincent Dureuil-Janthial Rully Vieilles Vignes 1er Cru

Smoky toasted nuts and black fruit preserves scent the nose of Dureuil's 2006 Rully Vieilles Vignes, which hits the palate with surprising cut and tart freshness, as well as alluring spiciness. This wine informed by numerous parcels seems to make the best out of what could easily be perceived as an awkward bifurcation of tartly fresh and jam-like or dried cherry and currants, and its ample tannins manage not to rob it of some textural polish, or its finish of vivacity and sap. Still, I would plan to enjoy it over the next 2-3 years. Vincent Dureuil (for more about whom, see my report in issue 170) has again demonstrated his enormous talents in a vintage whose challenges were magnified in the commune of Rully by severe summer hail. Furthermore, rot was exacerbated throughout the Cote Chalonnaise, so the Dureuil's triage had to be especially severe (employing both a passive and a vibratory table); extraction very gentle (with no pigeage); and many wines racked off of their lees sooner than usual. Dureuil elected to filter some of them (a procedure he usually feels confident to avoid). A Peter Vezan Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011 33 1 42 55 42 93