Posts Tagged ‘Jura’
So Tissot
Arbois 2011, Chardonnay, Domaine André et Mireille Tissot ($24.95, 11194701)
100% organically and biodynamically farmed Chardonnay from vines more than a quarter of a century old. Manually harvested. Pneumatically pressed. Fermented with native yeasts and matured for 12 months in oak barrels that are kept topped up so the wine doesn’t oxidize. Lightly filtered. A miniscule amount of sulphur dioxide is added at bottling. 13.5% ABV.
Pear, lemon, chalk, faint dried herbs, distant smoke. Intense on the palate, the richness cut by bracing acidty. The wine’s tension, fruit and crystalline minerality are reminiscent of Chablis but the flavours are otherwise: earthier and showing hints of oxidized butter (probably salted), white spice and something vaguely floral like chamomile or fennel pollen. The long, clean finish is tangy in that way that almost requires you to take another sip. Stupendous QPR. (Buy again? Oh, yes.)
MWG June 20th tasting (1/8): Les Compères et un confrère
Côtes du Jura 2010, Chardonnay, Les Compères, Essencia ($26.70, 11544003)
Essencia is a joint venture between Puligny-based caviste and cheesemonger Philippe Bouvret and cult winemaker Jean-François Ganevat. 100% Chardonnay (not 90% Chard and 10% Savagnin as SAQ.com claims). I haven’t found much technical information about the wine other than that the vinification is “traditional,” which in Ganevat’s case probably means organically or biodynamically farmed grapes, whole cluster alcoholic fermentation with indigenous yeasts, no racking of the must, malolactic fermentation, maturation in large and/or small barrels, no filtering or fining and minimal use of sulphur dioxide. 12.5% ABV.
Lovely fresh nose of ripe apple, dried hay and lemon. The freshness continues onto the palate with its round, ripe-sweet fruit (more pear than apple), buoyant acitidy and crunchy minerals. The long finish brings a hint of salty hazlenut brittle. Mouth-filling yet the farthest thing from heavy, tense yet oh, so accessible. More complete than the 2005 yet equally pleasureable. (Buy again? Posthaste – this is a second shipment and there’s not a lot left.)
Côtes du Jura 2009, Tradition, Domaine Berthet-Bondet ($25.00, 11794694)
A blend of organically farmed Chardonnay and Savagnin (70-30 according to most, 80-20 according to SAQ.com). Fermented with indigenous yeasts. Matured two years sous voile, under a yeast veil, in large barrels. 13% ABV.
Textbook oxidized Jura nose: apple, silage and walnut. Medium-bodied and dry. Fine, even delicate bolts of fruit, straw, minerals and nuts unfurl and are wafted by smooth acidity. Fresher and less oxidatively full-bore than some (which is probably truer to the true traditional Jura style) but impeccably well-mannered and balanced, this would make a good introduction to non-ouillé wines as well as a fine accompaniment to Comté cheese, not to mention white fish and lobster, especially if in a creamy curry sauce. (Buy again? Sure.)
Bourdymania
Word has been a little slow in getting out, but, assuming he’s no longer snowbound at the Paris airport, Jura winemaker Jean-François Bourdy is in town and La QV has organized a few events around the visit.
From now through Saturday, Bocata wine bar in Old Montreal is serving glasses of Bourdy’s 1951 Château-Chalon, a vin jaune, paired with old Comté cheese for $40 a shot. Yes, that’s pricey, but bear in mind that a 620 ml bottle of the wine retails for a cool $559.
On Thursday, March 14, the bar at Toqué! is pairing three Bourdy wines with three small dishes designed expressly to accompany them. There are two seatings, the first at 6 p.m. and the second at 7:45 p.m., and only 12 places per time slot. For details, including the number to call for reservations, see here.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Bourdy will be in Quebec City for the Salon des vins de Québec.
And on Monday, March 18, the winemaker will be part of the Erin vs. Erin event at Nouveau Palais. The $30 fixed menu includes a lamb main course. Red, white and bubbly Bourdy wines will be flowing and the Pheasant’s Tears Seperavi from Georgia will be a by-the-glass option for the lamb. Two seatings: 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. Reservations required.
MWG February 21st tasting (8/8): A vibrant macvin
Macvin du Jura, Domaine de Montbourgeau ($31.25, 11785624)
A vin de liqueur made from Chardonnay and a little Poulsard. The grapes are pneumatically pressed. The resulting must is prevented from fermenting by adding Marc du Jura (pomace brandy), the final ratio being about 1/3 marc to 2/3 must. The Macvin is then matured three years in oak barrels and 230-litre pièces. 17% ABV.
Irrepressibly frangrant nose of caraway, honey, wax, candied orange peel, multigrain bread, rye berries, hazelnuts. Dense, smooth and sweet but not heavy or cloying thanks to the lively acidity and exuberant fruit. Long and pure. The very model of a macvin. (Buy again? Absolutely, especially since Macvins show up at the SAQ only once in a blue moon.)
The estate recommends serving it chilled (around 9-10ºC/50ºF) as an aperitif, alongside a first course of melon or cake au jambon (savoury ham cake) or with dessert (caramel ice cream or a chocolate pear tart). I’ve also enjoyed white Macvins with not overly sweet nut-based desserts. Some Jurassiens take it after dinner mixed with marc (usually one part Macvin to two parts marc).
MWG February 21st tasting (1/8): Tissot’s Indigène
A wide-ranging tasting that featured a mix of SAQ wines and private imports, all of them recent arrivals. We started and ended in the Jura.
Crémant du Jura, Indigène, Domaine André et Mireille Tissot ($27.04, Les vins Alain Bélanger, 12 b/c)
A traditional method sparkler. Biodynamically farmed Chardonnay (55%), Pinot Noir (35%), Poulsard (5%) and Trousseau (5%) from vines averaging 25 years old. Manually harvested, pneumatically pressed. Slow fermentation in stainless steel vats at 16 to 18ºC with indigenous yeasts. The prise de mousse (second fermentation) is achieved using yeasts taken from the estate’s fermenting vin de paille. Matured on the lees in bottles for 13 months before disgorging. No dosage or added sulphur dioxide. If memory serves, the alcohol level was 12.5%.
Apple turnover with cream, lemon zest and chalk. Fine, persistent effervescence. Rich and dry, the flavours tending to pear and yellow apple, crunchy minerals and a honey note. Fresh, pure and bracing, with huge acidity and a yeasty finish. A great sparkler that wakes up your mouth. (Buy again? Definitely.)
Symbiose’s Jura event at Bocata
Old Montreal wine bar Bocata has been holding a series of Thursday evening wine and food events in collaboration with various agencies. On January 23, the agency was Symbiose and the theme was the Jura. A friend from Besançon, just outside the Jura, and I made reservations.
With its stone walls, low, rough-beamed wood ceilings, fireplace, bookcases, warm lighting and seating for 30 or 40, the space is cosy, romantic and refreshingly unslick. The regular menu leans toward Spain and southern France, but ours was a Jurassic prix fixe: four courses for $40 or five for $45, wines included. We went the latter route.
The starter was a beautifully presented oyster on the half shell covered with a mince of sour apple and fennel, a credible match for the Côtes-du-Jura 2010, Naturé, Domaine Berthet-Bondet ($29.77, Symbiose, 6 bottles/case). Naturé, one of Savagnin‘s former aliases, is now used exclusively to refer to unoxidized Savagnins. This one had a nose of straw, brine and preserved lemon with a musky Sauvignon-like cat pee note. In the mouth, it was rich and round on the surface but had plenty of underlying acidity and a long, rainwatery finish.
The Côtes-du-Jura 2011, Rubis, Domaine Berthet-Bondet (NLA) is a blend of Trousseau (60%), Poulsard (30%) and Pinot Noir (10%). True to its name, the wine is a limpid pale red. With coaxing, the stern, faintly bretty nose of shale and burned match gave up scents of crushed raspberries (fruit and leaves). Light-bodied, minerally and tart, it had a silky texture, shy fruit and not much depth. The finish brought a surprising note of orange peel. What the wine needed was food to perk it up, and this it got in an earthy bowl of Puy lentils flavoured with smoky Morteau sausage.
Next, a dish – actually a shallow bowl – of mussels and scallops, the latter cut into mussel-size pieces, in a curry-scented carrot soup/sauce/purée: an excellent match for the L’Étoile 2008, Domaine de Montbourgeau, which had wowed the MWG in November 2011. (The 2010 is currently available at the SAQ ($21.55, 11557541).) Made from Chardonnay and possibly a little co-planted Savagnin, it spends around 18 months in 230-litre oak barrels and 600-litre demi muids. A middleweight that flowed smoothly on the palate, this had a classic, complex nose of browning apple, marzipan, hazelnuts, corn silage and dried pine needles. The lightly oxidized fruit was brightened by acidity and did a slow-fade on the long finish. A complete wine, lacking nothing.
By this point, we had become seriously impressed with the food – not just the execution, which was flawless, but also the clear knowledge of how to pair dishes with Jura wines. How many local chefs appreciate curry’s affinity for oxidized Jura whites, let alone use the spice with such an elegant hand? We asked the waiter to transmit our compliments to the chef. Before long, he stopped at our table: young, Limousin native Benjamin Léonard, who, it turns out, did a stint at Arbois’s top restaurant (two Michelin stars), Jean-Paul Jeunet.
The next wine was the Arbois-Pupillin 2009, Les Vianderies, Domaine de la Renardière ($29.84, Symbiose, 12 bottles/case), a small-production, old-vine Chardonnay cuvée. Fermentation and maturation last 18 months and take place in 500-litre tonneaux. This had a wafting nose of lemon, hawthorn and chalk with a hint of smoke and ash. On the palate, it was dry, fresh and pure – very chalky and citrusy – a lovely wine whose only weak point seemed its fleeting finish. Still, it made a fine pairing for the most accomplished dish of the evening: a moist, meltingly tender round of turkey breast stuffed with foie gras, cooked sous vide, served in a foamy vin jaune sauce and garnished with hedgehog mushrooms and a few tiny nuggets of sautéed foie gras.
Lastly, accompanied by an 18-month Comté, came a 2005 Château Chalon, Domaine Berthet-Bondet (NLA). Aromatically dazzling: walnut, curry powder, dried corn, almond, even a little banana peel. Delicate, minerally, subtly oxidized in the mouth. Rich but dry in a Fino-like way, with fine but sustained acidity. Not as deep or rich as some yet elegant and beautiful all the same.
To say we were satisfied would be the understatement of the century. The QPR was off the charts; we would have considered it a bargain to have paid $45 for the food alone. This may have been a case of the planets aligning – a Jura-trained chef egged on by a Jura-enamoured agent and given free rein to concoct a Jura-inspired tasting menu to accompany a series of fine Jura wines – but the overall quality was so high, I doubt it was only that. Both my friend and I plan to return to check out the regular menu.
Two more Bocata wine events – both even more affordable than the Jura tasting – are planned for February: Rézin and Beaujolais on the 21st and oenopole and Greek terroirs on the 28th. And it looks like there may soon be some interesting local developments on the Jura front. Stay tuned for details.
MWG November 9th tasting: report (2/5)
Chablis premier cru 2010, Beauregard, Domaine Pattes Loup ($35.75, 11784998)
100% organically farmed Chardonnay (reportedly biodynamic too, though apparently not yet certified as such). Manually harvested, which is quite rare in the region. Fermented (with native yeasts) and aged mostly in neutral oak with a fraction in stainless steel. Left on the lees through malolactic fermentation. Bottled unfiltered and unfined with minimal sulphur dioxide. 12.5% ABV.
Classic nose: lemon, flint and a faint lactic note. Rich, fluid, pure and open. At this point the vibrant fruit seems more of a driving force than the ripe acidity, giving the wine a Beaune-ish allure, though the long, minerally finish speaks with a definite Chablis accent. Elemental and delicious. (Buy again? Yes, but quick – the SAQ’s stocks are dwindling fast.)
Arbois 2010, Chardonnay, Les Bruyères, Domaine André et Mureille Tissot ($35.25, 11542139)
100% biodynamically farmed Chardonnay from 30- to 70-year-old vines. Manually harvested, pneumatically pressed, fermented with native yeasts. Vinified and aged in oak barrels, a fraction of which are new. Lightly filtered and sulphured at bottling. 13% ABV.
Complex, and-now-for-something-completely-different nose: banana (including the peel), straw, “Jägermeister,” white lily and, wait, is that popcorn? Rich, broad and dense in the mouth. Oxidized but not nutty fruit with a saline edge – think brined apple and pear – structured by acidity and chalky minerals. Subtle oak and dried honey notes emerge on the persistent finish. Will benefit from a couple of years in the cellar or a couple of hours in a carafe. (Buy again? Yes.)
MWG tasting with Jean-Paul Daumen
Focused, well-spoken and charming Jean-Paul Daumen, the man in charge of the southern Rhône estate Domaine de la Vieille Julienne, was in town recently for a series of promotional events that included a tasting with the Mo’ Wine Group. And what a tasting it was: an overview of the estate’s red wines that featured a vertical of Châteauneuf-du-Papes the likes of which even Jean-Paul said he has rarely experienced. Many thanks to oenopole for making this happen.
Vieille Julienne was acquired by the Daumen family in 1905, who sold the grapes to négociants until 1960. After trying his hand at various vocations, including that of musician, Jean-Paul returned to the estate in 1990. Unaware of the budding organic and biodyanmic movements, he decided on his own to adopt a natural approach in the vineyard and a non-interventionist approach in the winery. The question “So, for you, a wine is made in the vineyard, not the cellar?” elicited a succinct “Absoluement.”
The estate comprises 10.5 ha of vines – 10 ha of black grapes and 0.5 ha of white – in the northern part of the Châteauneuf region. Most of the vines are old, upwards of 100 years in some cases. All the wines are made in essentially the same way: hand-picking and repeated sorting of grapes; partial destemming; temperature-controlled fermentation with indigenous yeasts; extended maceration; approximately 12 months’ aging in foudres and neutral barrels; no filtering or fining; sulphur added – and then minimally – only just before bottling.
Jean-Paul admits that the wines are, first and foremost, about fruit; that’s what nature and the terroir produce, he says. However, they are far from fruit bombs. Before the event, more than one MWG member expressed apprehension at the prospect of tasting through a baker’s dozen of big, heady wines. Would palates be obliterated as had happened only a week earlier? We needn’t have worried. While big, the wines weren’t bruising and their purity and balance ensured refreshment. They were also remarkably stylish and consistent across the vintages, as the following notes show.
MWG April Jura tastings: report (6/6)
The Jura counterpart to Pineau des Charentes and Floc de Gascogne, Macvin du Jura is a vin de liqueur, a sweet and powerful blend of two-thirds grape juice and one-third Marc du Jura (pomace brandy) that is aged up to 30 months in casks. Macvin comes in white, pink and red varieties (usually the first) and, despite having been around since at least the 14th century, was granted its own AOC only in 1991. Locals serve it chilled as an aperitif, with desserts or after dinner mixed with marc (usually one part Macvin to two parts marc).
Macvin du Jura, Jean Bourdy ($47.00, 3 btls/case, La QV)
A rare rosé Macvin. Strawberry, fruit cake and dried spice (caraway, clove, cinnamon). Sweetness balanced by acidity and spice. Lingers long. Excellent. (Buy again? Yes.)
Macvin Rouge, Pinot Noir, André et Mireille Tissot ($39.25, 6 btls/case, Les Vins Alain Bélanger)
Deep red. Candied cherry on steroids, spice and an undernote of dried blood. Dense, fruity sweetness lifted by acid and alcohol. Marathon finish. Fascinating. (Buy again? Yes.)
Stéphane Tissot suggests chocolate as a pairing for his red Macvin. At the tastings, it was successfully served with squares of Valrhona Guanaja bittersweet chocolate. Further research conducted a few days later found it an unbeatable match with a selection of exquisite chocolate, hazlenut, pistachio and raspberry pastries from Olivier Potier.
What to eat with vin jaune?
At the Mo’ Wine Group’s recent Jura tastings, the vin jaunes were served with old Comté and walnut bread, a classic pairing that brings out the best in the wines. A few attendees asked about other vin jaune-friendly dishes and I promised to post a couple of recipes, one for lobster and another for chicken. You’ll find them after the jump.
There are, of course, other options. White meats, poultry (especially from Bresse), escargots, sweetbreads, crayfish, lobster and langoustine, often in preparations involving cream, curry and/or saffron, are frequently recommended. More specifically, a French food and wine-pairing book suggests veal Orloff, duck à l’orange, chicken waterzoï and pork curry (by which is meant pork cubes in a cream sauce mildly flavoured with curry powder) and even tarte Tatin. While I’ve never tried serving vin jaune with dessert (the wine’s dryness would seem to rule out such pairings), I admit to having enjoyed it with the Masse amande aux noix et au curry, a cube of barely sweetened walnut- and curry-flavoured almond paste in a bitter chocolate shell, created by the exceptional Arbois-based chocolate maker Hirsinger specifically to go with the wine.
Note that for cooking purposes, Marcel Cabelier’s 2003 Château-Chalon ($44.25, 10884778), the least expensive vin jaune available at the monopoly, is perfectly adequate.
Brett happens 