#426 A quartet from the Jura

I know nothing of the Jura.  Simple as that really.  You rarely see wines from this region in the UK, so I haven't had much of a need, or opportunity, to try wines from this area of eastern France.  I could go online and into my wine books and come up with some fancy information about terroir, how the wind blows or the history of the region, but you can do that for yourself without me simply rewriting someone else's work.  What I can do is tell you about the four wines I tried recently, and how this region in France should be a hell of a lot more famous in the wine world than it is. 

Traminer is a grape that I have tried before and the wines have been pretty, well, rubbish.  The 2007 Benedicte & Stephane Tissot Arbois Traminer was not one of these aforementioned turkeys.  Sure, it wasn't overly special, but it was a nice wine offering out a confit lemon and pork fat aroma with some spice and a little lemon and lime pith on the nose.  The palate had a touch of spice, some alcohol coming out, with lots of grapefruit pith, a little white pepper and grapefruit.  82pts

The next wine was the 2007 Benedicte & Stephane Tissot Savagnin was a different league.  Rich, round, sherried aromas with salty citrus pith and then on the palate, some creamy textures with confit lemon, marmalade and honey.  The palate has a really sherried element, salt and then some heat, but it is subdued with a creamier texture.  Very good.  91pts

The next wine, and the last from this company, was the fifteen pounds 2008 Benedicte & Stephane Tissot Chardonnay Classique.  I really didn't know what to expect from a Jura Chardonnay, but was massively impressed.  Light, bright oak and some fresh lemon coming off the nose with some melon and herbs.  A simple and elegant palate with some spice - mainly white pepper - with some melon pith, some nectarine and ginger.  94pts

And finally a Vin Jaune.  This style of white wine is similar to a Fino sherry, maturing in a barrell under a layer of yeast - known as the voile.  It is a thinner layer of yeast than the the flor on sherry, and side from using the Savagnin grape, harvested late,  instead of Palomino, the main difference between sherry and Vin Jaune is that the latter is not fortified.  It is also bottled in a 620ml bottle, that represents the amount of wine that has evaporated in the six years and three months that the wine has to age between harvest and bottling.

I tried the 1998 Clos des Grives Vin Jaune from Claude Charbonnier.  Immediately, smoked lemons with sea salt emerged from the wine with a lovely ash and honey aroma.  More salty notes appeared on the palate, with a dried citrus peel, spiced almonds and a lovely lemon and salt zing on the finish.  Its not something everyone will like - but I did.  92pts

I didn't really know what to expect with this group of wines, but thought that the Chardonnay would be the weakest of the range, and it turned out to be the strongest.  Quite simply, this wine from the Jura offers a quality at a low price that you simply don't get from Burgundy any more.