Jura
Jura is one of France’s smaller wine producing regions, in the east of the country on the border with Switzerland. Most famous for its wonderful unfortified, flor-scented and nutty vin jaune wines, the area produces several different styles of wine from a varied terrain. The one thing they have in common is steep slopes facing south and south-east, and a predominance of the limestone named after the region – Jurassic. Indeed, the appellation of L’Etoile in the southern half of the AC is so-named for the miniscule star-shaped marine fossils found in the soil there.
The vineyards spread along a strip no more than eight miles across at its widest point, and little more than 35 miles long, oriented on a north-east/south-west axis. Winters here are harsh, and the vineyards are interspersed with woodland and pasture. Côtes de Jura is the all-embracing appellation for the area but there are smaller demarcated areas around Arbois, L’Etoile and the famous vin jaune only appellation...
Jura
Jura is one of France’s smaller wine producing regions, in the east of the country on the border with Switzerland. Most famous for its wonderful unfortified, flor-scented and nutty vin jaune wines, the area produces several different styles of wine from a varied terrain. The one thing they have in common is steep slopes facing south and south-east, and a predominance of the limestone named after the region – Jurassic. Indeed, the appellation of L’Etoile in the southern half of the AC is so-named for the miniscule star-shaped marine fossils found in the soil there.
The vineyards spread along a strip no more than eight miles across at its widest point, and little more than 35 miles long, oriented on a north-east/south-west axis. Winters here are harsh, and the vineyards are interspersed with woodland and pasture. Côtes de Jura is the all-embracing appellation for the area but there are smaller demarcated areas around Arbois, L’Etoile and the famous vin jaune only appellation Château-Chalon.
Chardonnay and savagnin make the white wines in these ACs, with the exception of Château-Chalon which can only be vin jaune made from savagnin, with pinot noir, poulsard (also known as ploussard) and trousseau making the reds. Sparkling crémant wines, many of which are excellent are made, as is a pétillant from poulsard. Reds are generally light, particularly so in the case of poulsard.
The great wine of the region is the abovementioned vin jaune. Made from savagnin harvested very ripe, the wine spends six years or so in old Burgundy barrels under a veil of yeast, very much like the flor of Jerez in Spain. It develops a delicious nutty, tangy flavour that marries wonderfully with local specialities like comte cheese and woodland mushrooms, particularly the much prized morilles. The unique 62cl ‘clavelin’ bottle is permitted because of its traditional association with the wine and represents the quantity of wine remaining from the original litre it started life as. Another speciality is the sweet vin de paille made from grapes raisined on straw mats until the January following the harvest. For lovers of pineau de Charente from the cognac region, a Jura Macvin is worth a try, being a blend of grape spirit and grape juice.
Savoie
The vineyards of the Savoie flourish in the Alpine region of France clustered close to the Swiss border and the city of Geneva. The mountains here mean a disparate array of vineyard sites in narrow valleys, many of them specialising in a particularly local grape variety farmed on steep mountain slopes.
The grape varieties mondeuse, jacquere, gringet, altesse, molette, gamay, roussanne, chardonnay and pinot noir all feature. Despite the number of varieties and terroirs to be found here, all are bottled under the catch-all appellation of Vin de Savoie or Savoie, though there are 16 crus that can append their name to the nomenclature e.g. Savoie Chignin.
Whites are generally crisp and fine-boned, particularly the Chignin mentioned above made from jacquere, though Chignin-Bergeron is fuller and rounder and made from roussanne. Reds too are not heavy dark blockbusters. Mondeuse makes characterful, grippy reds, sometimes oak-aged and sometimes made like Beaujolais, but production is geared much more towards white than red.
The area around Chambery in the south of the region is famous for its vermouth.
