Domaine Rois Mages

Rully, Burgundy, France

Anne-Sophie Debavelaere, a native Burgundian, began her domaine in 1984. She farms 7 hectares of vines which are mostly in Rully. Her vineyards are all worked with respect for the land in a fashion known as “lutte raisonnée”. Her winery or “cave de vinification” is a vaulted cellar which was dug from the Rully hillside in 1850. It was originally built by a local negociant who wanted to have a cellar for sparkling wine similar to those in Champagne. Today, it offers Anne-Sophie a wonderful environment in which to mature her wines. They farm three parcels in Rully, the 1er Cru “Les Pierres” and the two lieux dits “Moulin A Vent” and “Les Cailloux”.

Anne-Sophie has handed over all responsibility for the Domaine to her son Félix, calling him “the boss”, although she is clearly still very involved. She reckons that Félix is a better red wine maker than she and he’s lengthening the macerations to increase the intensity of both colour and fruit. Having been puzzled by the choice of the Rois Mages name for the Domaine, all became clear when Anne-Sophie revealed that her maiden name was Melchior, one of the three kings – the Rois Mages.

The “Les Cailloux” vineyard is planted to 1.5 Ha Chardonnay and 0.3 Ha are planted to Pinot Noir. As the vineyard name suggests, this “lieu dit” has a great many surface stones. They absorb the sun’s heat during the day and radiate it back to the plants after sunset allowing for opulent dark cherry flavours to develop. The Clos Moulin a Vent is amongst the highest vineyards in Rully & produces exquisite finely tuned nervy white wine.