White wines from the Jura are truly something special. In the oceans of wine out there, the emphasis of this strikes home with me more each time that I taste one. Unfortunately, that remains a relatively rare experience, as finding these wines is difficult. In 2006, the Art Of Eating featured Jura wines in a fascinating in-depth article. This was the first time I’d heard of them, and at the time finding them was all but impossible. But slowly, and I believe partly as a result of the interest sparked by this article among a small group of wine drinkers, certain shops in Boston began carrying more of them. Even Vin Jaune could be found if you were especially fortunate.

Of late, I’ve found that these wines are harder to find, which is a real shame because they can be so utterly fascinating. Wines from this region simply aren’t like wines made anywhere else in the world, and the best of them are truly sublime. Of course, I’m speaking here largely of the whites, which are the Jura’s calling card. The reds, made largely from Pinot Noir, Poulsard, Trousseau are nowhere near as impressive, often light in body and flavor. But the whites can be amazing.

Vin Jaune is the white that the Jura is most famous for, but many of their other white wines, typically made from Chardonnay or Savagnin, can be very delicious and feature many of the same qualities that Vin Jaune does. This all owes to how these wines are produced. The combination of the Savagnin grape (unique to the Jura) and their method of aging wines sous-voile (also unique to the Jura) produces white wines like no other.

The production of Vin Jaune requires the use of 100% Savagnin and aging the wines in barrel for at least 6 years, during which time the barrel is never topped up, allowing it to develop a thin film of yeast on the surface of the wine. The result is that the wine oxidizes very slowly during those 6 years, developing the characteristic flavors of walnut, butter, coffee, honey, apple, and cocoa.

Other whites from the Jura do not have such requirements. Yet, nonetheless many are made in a similar fashion, often both using the Savagnin grape and aging sous-voile. The distinction between these and Vin Jaune would be the duration of aging, which is closer to 1-2 years.

While Savagnin is perhaps the grape that the Jura is most notable for, Chardonnay is also widely grown, and just as often treated in the same fashion. This wine from Domaine Rolet is a great example of this. It is from grapes grown in the the l’Etoile appellation (also home to the excellent Domaine de Montbourgeau), but they also grow grapes in the Arbois and wider Cotes du Jura appellations. Domaine Rolet is a family-owned winery, tended to by the four Rolet siblings, and overseeing 60 hectares that include the 5 typical Jura varieties: Chardonnay 34%, Savagnin 21%, Poulsard 21%, Trousseau 10%, and Pinot Noir 13%.

The label on the wine has a small statement reading:

La constitution geologique du sous-sol jurassien fait du Revermont une terre de predilection quant a l’obtention de vins blancs secs d’un haut niveau. Celui-ci, privilegement le cepage Chardonnay restitue bien toute la delicatesse du terroir de l’Etoile.

“Revermont” refers to the ridge of hills that runs north-south through the l’Etoile appellation, and throughout much of the Jura generally. L’Etoile is the second smallest appellation in the Jura, covering 160 hectares. It gets its name from the small star-shaped fossils of pentacrines (extinct relatives of starfish) that are found in the soil. This is an appellation well-known for its oxidized wines, both Vin Jauneand other whites. I’ve had several whites and a Vin de Paille from this appellation and all have been excellent.

Tasting Notes

The wine is a ight, greeny gold with auburn tints.  The nose is bright and promising, with notes of apple orchard, pear, and hazelnut. On the palate, the wine is soft and smoothly textured, with dense flavors of poached pears, brioche, vanilla, and walnut, all ringed by a nutty acidity. Much more full, well-textured, and layered with flavor than the nose indicates. The finish is lingering, with notes of pear and walnut.

This wine does a great job of walking a tightrope between the soft and supple texture and fruit-driven flavors of Chardonnay, and the nutty, sweet acidity characteristic of many Jura whites. It’s really enjoyable, and the flavors continued to develop as the wine warmed. Highly recommend…

The Domaine de Montbourgeau vin de paille is, in a word, fantastic. This is one of the few wines that I’ve had that has really blown me away. As much as I liked the vin jaune from Puffeney, I found this wine to be beautiful. The nose carries notes of walnut, candied apples, poached pears, and aged balsamic vinegar. The palate is rich and velvety with up-front flavors of nuts, spices, brown sugar, and baked apples, and then back again to walnuts and almonds. The finish is very long, begins with warm caramel and tails away to nutty flavors accompanied by a bright acidity.

I could not get enough of this wine, and the 375ml bottle went far too quickly among the four of us who shared it. It was the only bottle we had, but this is a wine that I will always keep my eyes open for and will definitely grab if the opportunity to do so arises again. What a fabulous wine, and a testament to the fact that my occasional obsessions with different wines, etc., sometimes leads to the discovery of a real gem.

In this case, the obsession was with the wines of the Jura region of France. A couple of years ago when I first stumbled across the Art Of Eating the issue that I found was devoted to “Wines of the Jura”. I was instantly taken in. I had never heard of the Jura region of France, of the wine it was most famous for – Vin Jaune -, nor of the savagnin grape making up that wine. All of it was new to me, and what is more the wines were both entirely unique and hard to find. The more that I read about the wines, in this article and elsewhere, the more I was interested in finding the opportunity to taste some of them.

The most noticeable difference to wines made in the Jura region was the frequent mention of the sous voile method of wine-making. This approach involves the winemaker not topping up the barrels that the wine ages in, and in some cases not fully filling them up to begin with. The result is that the resting wine develops a thin layer of yeast on its surface that limits the amount of oxidation that takes place, allowing certain beneficial flavors to develop while preventing the wine from turning to vinegar during the wine’s years of aging. In the case of vin jaune the wine is required to age for 6 years and 3 months, during which time the wine develops a range of flavors including hazelnuts, walnuts, curry, along with a noticeable viscosity and depth. Other wines made in this fashion will be aged sous voile for differing periods of time, depending on the winemaker’s preference.

The other noticeable difference was the handful of different grape varietals unique to the region. These include the white-wine grape savagnin (vin jaune is comprised of 100% savagnin), and two red varietals poulsard and trousseau. All three of these are nearly entirely limited to their production in the Jura. The other two more common varietals grown in the Jura are chardonnay and pinot noir.

So as time passed I found a few bottles here and there. A “Fleur de Chardonnay” from Domaine Labet, a Chardonnay made in the sous voile fashion giving the wine a nutty flavor to undercut the sweetness of the chardonnay and blended with a touch of savagnin to lend it a distinct acidity. This was followed by a savagnin from Domaine Berthet-Bondet, a poulsard and a vin jaune from Jacques Puffeney, a pair of savagnins from Domaine de Montbourgeau, and one from Domaine Andre et Mireille Tissot. Of these, those that stood out most were the savagnins from Montbourgeau, the poulsard from Puffeney, and the vin jaune from Puffeney.

The vin jaune from Puffeney was amazing, the farthest thing from any wine I had ever tasted. Whereas the savagnins that I had tasted all carried elements born of the sous voile style, the vin jaune had them in spades. Whereas the other savagnins achieved a balance between the wine’s inherent sweetness, acidity, and the nuttiness from the sous voile, the vin jaune fully embraced the results of the sous voile method. The wine was rife with nuts, caramel, curry, rancio, and had a velvety mouthfeel that led to a finish that just lingered on your palate for ages.

All that being said, while the vin jaune was wonderful and such a unique experience, it really did not hold a candle to this vin de paille. Again, this wine was simply amazing. Not a wine for every occasion, its sweetness and boldness required some contemplation around when best to drink it, but a fabulous wine when you find the right time to open it up. I’d recommend this over and over again.