Jura (sick)

This is not a post about dinosaurs.

This is a confession from a sommelier who knows less about French wines from the Jura than she should, because she was sick on Jura day at Le Cordon Bleu. I’ve been brushing up recently.

Here are some things you should know:

Jura is in Eastern France, between Burgundy and Switzerland.

The wines in Jura can be pretty funky.

The region is best known for “vin jaune” which means “yellow wine” in French. It’s made with Savagnin, a white wine grape that came from the Alps and is now mostly grown in the Jura. (Savagnin is NOT the same as Sauvignon.) Vin jaune is a partially oxidized wine made from late harvest grapes. That means the grapes are nice and sugary when they’re taken off the vine in October. (That also means the wine can have a higher alcohol content.) Those grapes become a dry wine that is barrel aged and untouched for six years before bottling. Usually wine is topped off when it’s in the barrel, so it doesn’t oxidize. Vin jaune isn’t topped off, so some oxygen gets in. A layer of yeast forms on the top of vin jaune as it ferments in the barrel, which protects the wine from full oxidation. A lot of people compare vin jaune to dry sherry because they both ferment under that thin layer of yeast (“sous voile” in French), so they both have nutty, spicy flavors.

The Jura is also known for “vin de paille” —which means “straw wine.” Vin de paille is a sweet wine made with Chardonnay, Savagnin, and Poulsard grapes. The grapes are picked very ripe and left to dry on straw mats.

The wine in this picture is none of the above. It’s a really lovely, more typical French Chardonnay. It was topped up and not oxidized, but was aged in oak barrels, giving it a subtle richness. A lot of people compare Jura Chardonnay to Burgundy Chardonnay. I think that’s a bit shortsighted. Jura Chardonnay has a more rustic quality that gives the wine its own character and charm.

If you’re looking for a Jura Chardonnay but want to be sure you don’t end up with something oxidized, look for the term “ouillé” on the bottle. That means it was topped up.

Note: the woman in the wine store in France who sold me this Jura told me it was a light Chardonnay that was not oak aged. She was wrong on both counts: this wine was, in fact, oak aged and I would not describe it as light. I guess she was sick and missed the Jura class too.