Mercurey, Côte Chalonnaise
Vineyards at Mercurey, Côte Chalonnaise
(Image credit: Getty)

Waiting patiently for your Burgundies from the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits to reach their fully mature exquisiteness? The five wine-producing communes of the Côte Chalonnaise a little further south provide some excellent options for earlier drinking, advises Clive Coates MW

Rully

Domaine Paul et Marie Jacqueson, Rully

(Image credit: Credit Unknown)

Continuing north, we hit Rully – historically, and still, a major source for the grapes made into Crémant de Bourgogne, the local sparkling wine. Its great attraction is its white wines. The reds can be good, occasionally very good, but for me Rully stands out as a white wine commune, and these are not only the best in the Côte Chalonnaise, but very often preferable, at a much more interesting price, to a lot of what the Côte de Beaune offers.

We find here a suppleness of fruit, a flowery minerality and a purity which is wholly admirable, and within a delicate but intense structure that makes them quite delicious at two to four years after the vintage. There are 350ha planted, and 23 premiers crus. Look out for the following: La Pucelle, Grésigny, Meix Cadot, Montpalais and Champs Cloux.

Best growers: Stéphane Briday; Vincent Dureuil-Janthial; Domaine de la Folie; Christophe Grandmougin; P & M Jacqueson; Jaeger-Defaix; Erell Ninot; Jean-Baptiste Ponsot

Domaine Paul et Marie Jacqueson, La Pucelle 1er Cru 2013

18.5 (95)

My favourite wine from the Côte Chalonnaise. This is a splendidly laid-back and elegant example – impeccably balanced and absolutely delicious. The 2012 is wonderful too.

Price: £20.75-£21 Lea & Sandeman, Thorman Hunt

Drink 2017-2025

Alc 13%

Domaine Vincent Dureuil, Le Meix Cadot Vieilles Vignes 1er Cru 2013

18.5 (95)

From vines planted in 1920. Marvellous, profound fruit on the nose. Full and multi-dimensional on the palate. Quite brilliant. And it will keep.

Price: £25.75 OW Loeb, Thorman Hunt

Drink 2017-2024

Alc 13.5%

Domaine Jean-Baptiste Ponsot, Montpalais 1er Cru 2013

18 (93)

The vines are 60 years old here, and they lie above the La Pucelle 1er Cru. Fullish, balanced, mineral. ‘My objective is purity,’ says Jean-Baptiste Ponsot. He’s certainly got it here.

Price: £20-£25 Domaine Direct, Smiling Grape Co

Drink 2016-2021

Alc 13%

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Clive Coates MW
Clive Coates MW
Decanter Magazine, Wine Writer
Clive Coates is one of the world's leading wine writers. He published his first article in 1967. At first he concentrated on Bordeaux, becoming well known for his Chateau Profiles and Vintage Assessments. In 1984 he set up his own magazine, The Vine, and began to spend a lot more attention on Burgundy. Burgundy was going through a revolution, with a new generation of wine-makers who were vinifying more carefully, using temperature control for instance, cultivating their vineyards by increasingly biodynamic methods, and bottling and marketing their wines themselves. Clive was there from the beginning. With a group of professional wine friends he organised comprehensive vintage tastings; at three and en years on. He has written nine books on wine. Three on Bordeaux, three on Bordeaux and three on the Wines of France. He lives in the Mâconnais.