2022 Bourgogne Aligoté

“It was a sunny vintage. It was much easier to work than 2021,” Clémence Dubrulle explains as the living room fills with the sound of drilling their new tasting room in the adjoining room. It’s bordering on deafening. Her husband Baptiste rolls his eyes when he joins us, but what can you do? “The summer was very dry and warm, and there was no stress apart from in a very tiny proportion of younger vines. We had 50mm from May 20 to June 10. There was some blockage in August when temperatures exceeded 30° Celsius, but that meant that the alcohol potential was lowered, notwithstanding some vineyards are orientated northwest. We started the picking on August 28 and did a long and slow fermentation as usual. There was a gentle pressing for the Aligoté as we don’t want to damage the stems, then cooled the juice down, a 36-hour settling before alcoholic fermentation and élevage in stainless steel so that it retains mineralité. The Clos la Folie Chardonnay comes from the same parcels and is also raised in stainless steel. In 2022, we have large blending tanks, so that means there is more homogenization in the cuvée.” I have waxed lyrical about this Rully producer for several years now. I always make a beeline for their wines on Burgundy restaurant lists. They are beautifully crafted—what you might call “honest” wines that transcend their status.