FRENCH WINE

100% Savagnin from 40 year old vines grown on blue marl/clay/limestone soil. Aged in large wooden vats for 18 months. Ouillé. This cuvée shares a name with J-F's winemaking sidekick, the family Weimaraner. Unlike the dog, this is redolent of yellow plums, sea salt, honey, and white pepper.

Ganevat is one of the Jura's star producers The winemaking is pretty natural, and no sulfur dioxide has been used during vinification since 2006, with just small additions to Florine and Les Billats at bottling. The whites spend a long time on lees and are aged for extended periods in barrel and amphora. Typically, more than 30 cuvées are released each vintage. Based in the hamlet of La Combe, Jean-François is making some incredible Jura wines from recently-certified (Demeter) biodynamic vineyards. In 1998 he returned to the family domaine after a period spent working in Burgundy, with Jean-Marc Morey. These wines are naturally made, with the reds receiving no sulfur dioxide additions, and the whites only a tiny amount. These are true terroir wines, and they are thrilling – especially the remarkable Savagnin.

Domaine Berthet-Bondet is located in the subregion of Château-Chalon, the heartland of the Jura. The 2016 Trio was made of three grape varieties, 50% Trousseau, 30% Poulsard, and 20% Pinot Noir, all organically farmed and hand harvested. Berries were sorted, destemmed, and underwent a short maceration to extract desired flavors, color, and tannins. Fermentation and maturation were conducted in stainless steel tanks. Primary aromas and flavors included strawberry, red cherry, tomato leaf, tea, tarragon, juniper, and rhubarb. Tertiary notes included dusty trail and cherry compote.

Light in body yet intensely perfumed, the rare Poulsard grape here gives a supple-textured wine full of red berry fruit alongside some earthy-animal complexity.

"Redcurrant and cherry, with a hint of hibiscus on the nose. Light and precise, with cherry complemented by floral and spice flavors. A delightful and lively Poulsard." - Skurnik Imports

Domaine Rolet, founded in the early 1940s, is Jura's largest family-owned estate. The second generation-four siblings-now run the show: Bernard and Guy look after the sixty hectares of vines as well as the winemaking, while Pierre and Eliane handle the commercial side. The vines are 50+ years old, the yields low, and the vinification meticulous, leading to brilliant, precise expressions of Jura's distinctive wine styles. Vineyard The grapes were harvested by hand from vines aged thirty-five to forty-five, planted on red marl soils in the communes of Montigny and Arbois. The grapes were sorted and crushed, then fermented with indigenous yeast for around three weeks in stainless steel tanks. The wine was then aged in large, used casks ("foudre") for fifteen months.

Tissot is from an old Jura family (there are enough Tissots in the Jura to keep a genealogist busy for years) and has turned his family’s property into both one of the region’s most dynamic presences—biodynamics, amphorae, all the usual shiny things—as well as one of its bigger landholders, with more than 50 hectares.