RULLY PREMIER CRU
MOLESME 2022

Grape Variety

Chardonnay.

Tasting notes

Colour: a beautiful pale golden hue.

Bouquet: a charming, fruit-driven nose with delicate toasty notes.

Palate: a charming wine with good length and excellent balance on the palate.

Food and wine pairing

Excellent with cold cuts, delicate fish, seafood, warm starters, or white meats with sauce. Best enjoyed with aged cheeses, such as certain goat cheeses.

Serving suggestions

Ideally served between 12°C and 14°C (54–57°F).

Ageing potential

Can be easily cellared for up to 5 years after the vintage.

Origin

Rully is one of the renowned villages of the Côte Chalonnaise, south of Burgundy. It is a village appellation comprising 23 climats classified as Premier Cru.

White Rully wines cover 261 hectares, including 68 hectares of Premier Cru, while red Rully wines are produced on 116 hectares, of which 28 hectares are Premier Cru.

Rully takes its name from a wealthy Roman, Rubilius, who built a villa and founded the village during the Roman occupation. Originally called Rubiliacum, the name evolved over time to become Rully.

Terroir

The Château de Rully, a former 12th-century fortress, has become the iconic landmark of the village of Rully. Its vineyard is entirely and exclusively managed by Domaine de la Bressande.

The Molesme parcel covers half a hectare of Chardonnay vines, south-facing on a gently sloping hillside.

This terroir is located just above an underground river. The vines suffer less from drought thanks to a reddish-brown calcareous soil that retains water, with loam at the bottom of the slope.

The subsoil consists of an Oxfordian substrate of lithographic and oolitic limestone, producing rich, rounded, and mineral white wines.

Vinification and maturing

Chardonnay grapes from the Premier Cru Molesme parcel were hand-harvested on August 31. Pneumatic pressing was followed by 48 hours of cold settling to remove coarse lees (solid particles from skins, stems, and other impurities that settle by sedimentation). Alcoholic fermentation took place in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks to ensure precise temperature management and consistency of the cuvée. The wine was then transferred to barrel at the end of fermentation. The wine was then aged in 228-litre barrels (25% new oak) on fine lees for 8 months. Lees stirring was carried out approximately once a month until the end of alcoholic fermentation, promoting the development of complex aromas while preserving fruit purity. This process also helps protect the wine from oxidation (barrel staves and bung hole) and reduction (build-up of sulphur compounds at the bottom of the barrel or tank) by keeping the fine lees in suspension.

Vintage : 2022

Uncertain weather conditions all the year long, but mild in the end throughout the season!

The harvest, running from 25 August to 16 September. The grapes were beautifully healthy, with varying degrees of ripeness depending on the exposure.

Balanced, honest white wines. Maturing ought to bring just the right degree of roundness to red wines with varying qualities, depending on the maturity of each plot. We have both sophisticated, fruity red wines with a good Burgundy tension as well as rich, warmer ones.

A pleasant vintage in terms of quality with excellent yields for both whites and reds.

The vinification choices have been crucial as to whether to favour acidity or the alcoholic degree.