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Just to the south-east of Burgundy is the small wine appellation of Jura in the eastern French province of Franche-Comte, that produces some the worlds finest and most exported cheeses. This soft sheep’s cheese can be found on store shelves all over the world, and has a delightful, airy and earthy flavor to it. But this region produces much more than just traditional cheese.
The wines of the Jura may be less well known that its cheese, but the stories that they tell about the traditions of the region make them a valuable gem for pairing and as aperitif. If one could go back to the middle-ages and enjoy wine made in those times, it would probably look not dissimilar to the wines of the Jura today. That’s not a knock on these wines, they are extremely good, however, very traditional. That’s not according to me, but Louis Pasteur himself: a winemaker by passion.
Louis pasteur was from Jura, and had an estate in the Franche-Comte region, as well as his famous laboratory in Arbois, where he observed many different bacteria, including yeasts common to the area. He is famous for inventing pasteurization which is a protein homogyration method developed for purifying milk, but the majority of his work was centered around enology.
This wine growing region lies just at the foothills of the alps and has greater elevation than areas like Burgundy, just to the west, and more slopes. Due to its slightly higher elevation, and further southerly position, Jura tends to differ in planting from Burgundy in one complex way. In Jura, winemakers are more apt to plant on south-westerly slopes rather than slopes on the orient, and southerly-orient like Burgundy (though Santenay, and Monthelie are both on the westerly slopes, they are an exception.) This wise decision gives their grapes additional sunlight, to help them ripen before the cold snaps.
Cold snaps are much more common, and frost is a larger issue than in Burgundy, due to Jura’s proximity to the cold alpine winds from Switzerland, and its disposition further inland. The Jura is much more likely to lose crop towards the end of harvest, and need to re-consider which blend of grapes to use in their famous wines, based on what’s available. That said, global warming is heating up the area, and making weather less of a factor in wine production.
Jura’s focus is on several grape varieties, many not found in Burgundy or elsewhere at all. Some have noted that Jura winemaking is quite similar in varietal to Swiss winemaking, though there are some very key differences. In regards to similarities, the most planted grape varietal is Savagnin, a largely neglected mutation of the German Gewürz family, and cousin to both Sauvignon and Chenin Blanc.
The other commonly planted grape here is Poulsard, a thin-skinned grape grown almost exclusively here in the Jura. This grape produced candy-like sour acidity, and light red fruit flavors. Under-ripe raspberry and strawberry are the most common flavors in the wines made in Poulsard-based wines. The wine it makes is very pale, and can often need weeks to macerate on the skins before it reveals any color at all. It’s low in tannin and is, thus, generally used for blending to add acidity and brightness to other reds like Trousseau and Pinot Noir.
This nice blending grape is also used in the Beaujolais appellation of Bugey as a light-fruit blending wine for Gamay. Though no other region in France is demarcated for this grape besides Bugey, and the Jura, it can be found in Spain and Portugal under the name Bastardo, and Merenzao - it actually can be found as far as Galacia, and is often used in red Vinho Verde. It was previously thought to be the offspring of Tempranillo, though this is no longer propagated
Because of this grapes very light color, it is easy to make Cremant de Jura with it as well, which is the white sparkling wine made here in Jura by the Méthode Traditionelle, and other white wines. These wines are creamy and fizzy like Champagne, and often also feature Pinot Noir and Chardonnay picked early to ensure that their acid is high - though they tend to be richer versions of the fizzy French drink, with fewer toasty notes and slightly less complexity.
Trousseau is the last grape variety that can be found growing in the Jura, and this grape is used to thicken up the flaccid Poulsard wines, adding rich, dense complexity and warmth. It is, however, a harder grape to grow here in Jura. It dislikes the cold and suffers from all sorts of different dry rots and mold - it is, in a word, highly temperamental. Only about five percent of vineyards are planted with this grape.
The most famous appellation in all of Jura is the prestigious Château-Chalon. This area is only 148 acres, and produces a wine not specific to the town, but very defining for the region of Jura. Arguably, this appellation produces the best example. The wine is called Vin Jaune, or yellow wine, and this yellow wine has been referred to locally as the, “Gold Wine of Jura.”
What makes this wine so special is the aging process. This wine is an oxidized variety, that is made similar to the wines of Sherry, those being Fino without the solera - it is aged in a new oak barrique for six years and three months without any say-so by the winemaker. The yeast forms a cloudy flor on the top like a lager, that slowly yields to a straw-colored oxidized wine. Space is always left in the top of the barrel for oxygen to sit above the flor to keep it healthy, and again, these wines must age for six years, and be totally made of Savagnin grapes.
The most common flavor descriptors used to describe Vin Jaune are, curry, and walnuts. These unique flavors are due to the oxidation of the wine which results in them developing a flavor ester known as Sotolon, which is one of the esters found in curry and fennel. Despite their rich texture, these wines are higher in acid and not very sweet at all. Only about five percent of wine produced in the Jura, is Vin Jaune, despite the praise it receives from critics.
My favorite of this style is the delicious example from Bénédicte et Stéphane Tissot Château-Chalon. This wine is keenly driven by secondary characteristics of honeyed walnuts, maple syrup, and nutmeg. These savory characteristics evolve into dried apple, caramel, and carrot. The fruit flavors are mostly dried stone fruit, with great minerality and wet stone aromas. It's a fantastic wine - there are some of those curry and dandelion flavors lingering in the back - the balance is really nice and the wine has intricate bitterness that folds nicely into honeyed texture.
The next major appellation that is producing incredible wine in the Jura is the lovely Arbois area, which also encompasses the even more prestigious Arbois-Pupillin. The soils in this area, as with Château-Chalon are a delightfully well-draining sand, marlstone and clay, which benefits the wines in its cooling effects, and its ability to remove water from the roots. Limestone outcroppings can be found along the podzol surface. Côtes-de-Jura is also contained in this area and winemakers can choose to label how they choose.
Arbois accounts for seventy percent of the wines exported from the region. The main grape grown here is Savagnan, with smaller amounts of Chardonnay and Pinot noir - Trousseau is more common than Pinot Noir. Arbois was one of the famous first AOC, elected so in 1936, at the establishment of the AOC system. The majority of production is that of still whites and reds, although the area is also demarcated for Crement de Jura and the prestigious Vin Jaune.
Arbois-Pupillin is a specific zone of south-facing slopes round the Arbois, that retains heat very well, and usually exists near the warming retention of the Cuisance river. Arbois itself likely references the fertility (for grapes that is) of the slopes surrounding the river. The majority of the wine that comes from the Pupillin vineyards is red - generally the highly regarded pinot noir, as these areas tend to be warmer and more suitable for this grape.
The furthest east appellation is L'Étoile which as a wine-producing area is made up of the communes Plainoiseau, Quintigny, Saint-Didier and L'Étoile proper. This area is a Chardonnay producing region that makes wines similar in style to Chablis, but with a bit more body - though still unaffected by oak flavor largely. The area is covered in limestone and chalk soils just like Chablis and rests on the foothills of the alps, in very hilly conditions.
Wine here is delicate, floral and most of all, minerality with a striking acidity and flavors of green tree fruit, such as lime, and granny-smith apple. The flavor is honeyed and full-bodied, but still refreshing. This is a wonderful appellation if you haven’t tried it already.
The last region is Macvin du Jura, which is contained within the whole of the Côtes de Jura region. This is a style of wine principally made from Chardonnay and Savagnin, though other varietals are permitted: actually any of the five allowable grapes listed above, though the wine produced is traditionally white in color. This is a fortified wine appellation that accounts for only three percent of total production. Unlike other fortified wines, however, this one actually has very little of its own alcohol from fermentation.
That is because fermentation is stopped with wine spirits made from old-must grape skins, called Marc. This grapey-liqueur settles within the wine and halts fermentation making the wines sweet, with flavors of grape, quince and fresh apple. Since these wines see very little fermentation, fresh fruit flavors are abundant. Alcohol can be anywhere from sixteen to twenty-two percent.
That's all,
~Keegan
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