Rully

The BIVB sheet describes Rully as a village with a long history, with a château held by the same family for six centuries. The abbey of Saint-Bénigne of Dijon, the house of Vergy and the Dukes of Burgundy all played a part in the history of its vineyards.

In 1822, according to the BIVB, merchants of Chalon-sur-Saône who owned vines in Rully and Mercurey invited a young man from Champagne to their estates, and sparkling white Burgundy was born. Since the early nineteenth century Rully has been an important centre for what became Crémant de Bourgogne, which received its AOC in 1975. Rully was granted its own AOC by the decree of 13 June 1939, for red and white wines at village and Premier Cru level.

Vines occupy slopes around Rully and Chagny at about 230–300 m. The BIVB sheet stresses that soil, exposure and altitude vary considerably here and explain subtle differences between the wines. Pinot Noir grows on brown or lime-rich soils with little clay; Chardonnay prefers clay-limestone. The BIVB geology page describes the Côte Chalonnaise as a rocky limestone base from which sand, flinty clay and more marly soils emerge, part of the northern tip of the Massif Central.

The BIVB describes hot summers and dry autumns that let the grapes ripen, on the best south-east-facing slopes of a hilly landscape.

The BIVB sheet describes white Rully as gold with green glints, with hedgerow flowers (acacia, may, honeysuckle, elderflower), violet, lemon, white peach and flint, and with time honey, quince and dried fruit. It is lively and rounded, fleshy and long. The red ranges from ruby to dark garnet, with blackcurrant, blackberry and cherry, liquorice, lilac and rose petal. Its tannins give it a well-defined structure, a little closed when young and softer after a few years. The BIVB links the clay-limestone and low-clay soils to the choice of grape rather than to specific flavours.

Whites come from Chardonnay and reds from Pinot Noir. The appellation covers Rully and Chagny and includes 23 Premier Cru climats. In 2022 the BIVB recorded 248.34 ha of white (69.67 ha Premier Cru) and 118.10 ha of red (27.87 ha Premier Cru). Crémant de Bourgogne is a separate regional appellation, even though Rully has a long connection with its production.