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This last month we got in a micro allocation of some the greatest
wines being made in the Jura, from Julien Labet in the Southern Jura.
We also have a slew of other great wines from the Jura so I thought a
primer on the wines and the region would be nice. Forgive me if I've
gone over this information piecemeal

Historically in the scheme of French food and wine the Jura has always
been more important for cheese than wine. The area is the most famous
for cow cheese in all of France, chief among them the large wheels of
semi hard comte which, when made and aged right, ranks amongst the
greatest cheeses in the world.

So it goes without saying that the cuisine of the jura is extremely
cheese focused, which is perhaps the thing that informs the winemaking
the most. The traditional wines tend towards lightness and acidity to
cut through fatty meals. Extracted or overly ripe wines are almost
unheard of.

The five main grapes of the Jura are two grapes imported from nearby
Burgundy, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and three grapes unique to the
area, the two reds, Trousseau and Poulsard, and most famously the
white Savagnin.

It's important to note that although Burgundy and the Jura are near
each other (an hour by car) and share grape varieties the wines
themselves are very distinct, and attempts to try and recreate
Burgundy in the Jura have resulted in overpriced failures that fail to
understand why the wines are good in the first place (the wine of
Domaine du Pelican, made by the Marquis d'Angerville, are the prime
example of this).

The reds of the Jura are some of the lightest most ethereal reds being
made anywhere in the world. Poulsard tends to be a delicate see
through strawberry color, trousseau tends to be a little (but just a
little) structured, and the pinot, while still being pinot, maintains
the lightness and acid the region is famed for.

The two main whites, Chardonnay and Savagnin, tend towards acid.One
fascinating thing about the Jura is that the most traditional styles
of whites are made in a fashion similar to sherry, with the barrels
being filled only partially and a flor being allowed to form on top of
them (unlike sherry the wine isn't fortified). The most famous of
these wines is the legendary "vin jaune" (which is always 100%
savagnin) which is aged under flor for a minimum of 6 years and 3
months, and can be aged much longer if the producer decides. These
oxidative wines are known informally as "non-ouille" which is an old
term for wines not being topped up in barrel (ouille is an old term
for "eye" and the top hole of the barrel is known as the eye, hence
non- ouille means not using the eye). We sadly have no vin-jaune in
stock (it's precious and very hard to get a hold of, representing a
tiny fraction of all Jura wines) but we do have a few bottle from
Domaine Montborgeau, the "L'Etoile" which is allowed to oxidize under
flor for three years. These wine, while being reminiscent of sherry on
the nose, are decidely more delicate on the palate.

While the traditional styles are still being made and very much
respected they are expensive to make and sitting on a wine from
anywhere from three to 6 years isn't financially viable for many
producers. Most of the white wine made by new producers is ouille
(topped up), which is fresher and can be released earlier. A radical
shift like this is usually a bad thing in most regions, but given the
relatively small size of the Jura, and the fact that the producers
weren't chasing a particular style, what happened was, with the
mentorship of a few geniuses, mainly Jean Francois Ganevat, Jacques
Puffeney, Pierre Overnoy, and most importantly Evelyne and Pascal
(RIP) Clairet at Domaine des Tournelle the new generation emerged as
fierce advocates of low intervention, organic winemaking that while
not traditional, held close to the style and spirit of the region.

I'll quickly go over the producers we currently have in stock:

Domaine des Carlines Chardonnay Savagnin: We poured this BTG, but this
is a young couple with a couple vintages under their belt. For me this
is a perfect entry point into what Jura white wines should be.
Precise, high acid, thoughtful. Save the refreshing wines for the red
wines.

Domaine des Bottes Rouge: Jean Baptiste Menigoz started off not as a
winemaker, but as a special needs teacher. In his spare time he began
making a few wines in his garage. When the all too familiar burnout
from such a stressful job hit he decided to turn his hobby into a
full-time job, and he was later joined by Florien Klein-Snuverink, a
legendary Dutch restauranter who decided to join up after spending a
harvest with him. Jean Baptiste and Florein are true naturalists, they
have always worked completely bio-dynamically and with as little
intervention as possible. The reds, which we have several, are perfect
examples of the light transparent style of Jura wines, while the
whites tend towards more serious. There is also an orange wine, No
Milk Today, that is very experimental and not for beginners.

Domaine la Grapp'a is also a brand new producer like domaine domaine
les carlisles, but in my view much more serious and self assured
wines. I know little about them but I'm largely shocked how good they
are, both the whites and reds (especially the white 'Pere Guy', a
topped up savagnin).

Loreline Laborde of Les Granges Paquenesses has been making a tiny
quantity of  wines, mostly white, in her little corner of paradise
since 2010.w ehave chardonnays and a savagnin. These are intensely
high acid wines and honestly perfect with Justin's cheeses.

Domaine de Montbourgeau is one of the great holders of traditional
winemaking in the Jura. I've already mentioned them several times
before but I always love to plug them.

I've honestly never had the wines of Emeric Foléat at Les Matheney,
but he studied Jacques Puffeney, who was perhaps the greatest
traditionalist in the Jura until his retirement in 2014, so I trust
that these are good.

Julien Labet is the young winemaker with the brightest rising star in
all the Jura. he is located in the southern end of the Jura, where
Chardonnay is king, and he is an obsessive white wine maker (his reds,
while good, can be a little erratic). He bottles something like 40
cuvees a year, based on vineyard site, grape, time in barrel, or just
personal taste. The whites to me are some of the most profound I've
had in the Jura. They are soulful wines, meant to be drabk over the
course of an evening, rather than chugged.

Finally we have two bottles of Pinot Noir from Geraud Fromont at
Domaine des Marnes Blanches, another rising star in the South. Geraud
makes some of the most precise serious reds in all of the Jura, and
for someone curious about what pinot can be in the region this is the
bottle.

Until next time

Cory