Eight decades of Château-Chalon (back to 1934) with Jean-Francois Bourdy
Tasted Friday, November 7, 2014 by David Paris with 1,352 views
Introduction
This is the fourth year in a row that Jean-Francois Bourdy has made a trip to E&R, and my third year in attendance. I really appreciate how every year Ed and Jean-Francois try to put together a new, unique theme. This time it was to drink all of the current vintages as well as a Château-Chalon from every decade back to 1934. I was really looking forward to this because the last few times we've only had a maximum of three Château-Chalon's at a tasting. While I've enjoyed some of them, the younger ones (think under 50 years) have generally tended to be not too enjoyable. This tasting would offer me the ability to dive into these in depth and really get to know the appellation a bit better.
I love these events with Jean-Francois because he always has new information to share about the estate or the region. I guess you accumulate a lot of knowledge after doing something for 500 years. He always begins with a little history of the estate and region for the new folks, but this time, as the times previous, also shared some new information. An always impressive fact is that the family still holds about 30,000 "old" bottles from the estate, back to a 1781 Château-Chalon. They have detailed vintage notes back 240 years, where they can speak of the weather, quality of harvest, and fruit. One new surprising comment was that they regularly see summer temperatures higher than the south of France, but they also get a lot of rain. The winery holds 10 hectares, which is considered medium sized for the Jura. They plan to plant two more hectares, bringing the total to 12, which is all the winery can accommodate.
A really interesting story told was how the Prussians at one point took over their estate and made it one of their offices. The officers wound up drinking all of the old bubbles made by his great great great grandfather. Bummer.
Flight 1 - The current releases (9 Notes)
Flight 2 - Eight decades of Château-Chalon (9 Notes)
Jean-Francois said this was only the second time in the USA that he has had this many Château-Chalon's together at once (the first being the Garagiste tasting in New York, with wines back to 1865). This is known (in the Jura :-) ) as "the greatest dry white wine in the world." The whole village is just 54 hectares, and in that there are 50 growers, with ~20 producers of Château-Chalon. So... just 1-2 hectares per producer. Bourdy makes about 1500 bottles a year. It spends 8 years in barrel. He commented that you can not find the kind of soil they have here anywhere else in the world. It's blue marl, but quite large in structure. The first vin Jaune in the history of the world is from Château-Chalon. The rules for this AOC are quite unique. Every year the consortium goes into the vineyard one week before harvest to measure the fruit characteristics. After 7 years there's another control and all the wines are tasted blind to determine if its a vintage. Since the 1940s about 1 in 6 vintages don't get bottled as Château-Chalon. If it can't be a vintage, the wine is declassified as Cote de Jura white Sauvignon (I guess not even Vin Jaune?). He commented that after you consider the evaporation in the barrel, you only wind up with a yield of about 1200-1500 liters/hectare for what winds up in the bottle.
Jean-Francois mentioned these should be paired with Duck Foie Gras... I can get behind that! He also suggested when creating an omelet with mushrooms to add 1/3rd of a glass of Vin Jaune. Sounds like a pricey omelet, but something that would be fun to try.
When talking about the agability of these wines, Jean-Francois mentioned that "only the good vintages will age 200-300 years." Oh, ok. Good to know!
NV Jean Bourdy Crémant du Jura 86 Points
France, Jura, Crémant du Jura
This is 100% Chardonnay made in methode Champenoise, with 5-7g dosage. Jean-Francois recommends drinking this "very cold." Smooth aromas. Quite zippy, with some melon and yeasty and mineral driven notes. Fairly hefty this year. Tons of thick bubbles on the palate, which is lusciously textured. Smooth apple notes and feels fatter, sweater this year. Rich and lush but a bit strange. Slightly sweet on the finish but also showing some minerals and a metallic, slightly coating sweetness. A little astringent.
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NV Jean Bourdy Crémant du Jura Rosé 90 Points
France, Jura, Crémant du Jura
It's quite rare to do sparking Rosé in the Jura. This must be kept for 12 months, by law, before release. This is aged for 15-18 months. For this he uses 100% Trousseau, because "it's able to give something interesting." Jean-Francois calls it an acid variety for cremant. They produce just 2000 bottles/year of this wine. He recommends drinking this with dessert.
Lean and cutting aromas. It smells creamy, showing some strawberry flavored cleaning products and lean minerality. Bright strawberry notes on palate entry. Soft, with less bubbles than the white version. Pleasing flavors with that lush, pretty texture. I love the deep and rich intensity. Some rich tartness on the finish and puckering texture. Feels quite nice. Lovely grittiness. A really nice sparkling Rosé.
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2010 Jean Bourdy Côtes du Jura Rouge 83 Points
France, Jura, Côtes du Jura
This is kept for 4 years in old (12-15 years) barrels. I don't know what was going on with this wine tonight, but I just did not like this... I absolutely loved the 2009 last year and bought a case. Jean-Francois thought the 2010 was even better, so I was very excited at the prospect of adding another case. As it sits, I'm not sure what I'll do. He said this wine offered "good quantity from good quality for the vintage." This was certainly showing a bit of brett on the nose, which usually doesn't bother me if contained (and generally the Bourdy wines have never come across as bretty to me). There are earthy aromas with a strawberry poking through as well. Some of that funk does blow off as I swirled vigorously, but was still noticeable. Showed more sweet fruit with air... was this just showing itself a bit reduced? The palate was incredibly flat in texture on entry. The flavors were really mellow. Really odd. There's somee tannins present, but what's up with the texture? Really quiet stuff, with soft, mild fruit and mild tannins. Richer finish, but again perhaps some brett here. Moderate acid and tannins, with lightly dirty berries. Not bad but quite uninteresting. I had a glass from another bottle a few days later with a similar impression. It didn't show as much funk, but was still quite soft and flat, showing bitter tannins. Go figure...
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2009 Jean Bourdy Chardonnay Côtes du Jura 91 Points
France, Jura, Côtes du Jura
This spends 5 years in old barrels and during that time he only tops them off a few times. He comments that this wine will be, "stronger, better" after a week open! It offered very rich, pretty, luscious aromas. Beautiful and elegant. Lovey, pretty, deep. Palate entry feels a little flat texturally, but very lovely opening of flavor, showing rich acid and smooth balance. It's tart, with lean flavors, but the texture does begin coating the palate beautifully as it remains in the mouth. Some wines get tired, boring, or overpowering as they're held in the mouth, but I could keep this one here forever as it just seems to improve. Rich finish opening with huge acid and apples. Decadent and luscious. One of the finest Blanc's I've had on release.
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2009 Jean Bourdy Savagnin Côtes du Jura 90 Points
France, Jura, Côtes du Jura
Jean-Francois commented about this bacteria that lives in the Jura that just can't stand to not attack barrels of Savagnin. He doesn't know why it's only that variety, but if there is ever a barrel of Savagnin it's just immediately attacked with this bacteria, leading to the Vin Jaune wines. He noted that they follow the Vin Jaune barrels closely and if there is ever a barrel that shows problems they immediately pull it out of barrel and bottle it. This winds up being about 1/2 to 1/3rd of the Vin Jaune. The resultant is this wine, which should be consumed within the first few years after bottling. Jean-Francois said this wine pairs beautifully with scallops, lobster, or Indian cuisine. It's "made for" shrimp in curry.
Aromas are a little bitter, showing some puckering minerals and light metallic note. Clean, thick palate. Rich oxidized apple flavor. Soft, and really lovely in texture, though. Love it, very singular in nature. Lovely apple core on the finish, coupled with rich acid and tartness. Puckering and clean. Lovely and pretty, but I do prefer the Chardonnay blanc to this in 2009.
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2006 Jean Bourdy Côtes du Jura Vin Jaune 90 Points
France, Jura, Côtes du Jura
This was just bottled 2 months ago. It spent 8 years in barrel. These barrels see about 35% evaporation. All told, what winds up in the bottle for Vin Jaune is just 50% of the fruit that was harvested. Very rich and alcoholy on the nose, and it smells like freshly made rope. Soft palate entry, with smooth texture. Quite pretty, with lovely richness. Soft, with a bit of thick apple note. It's like chewing on a metallic apple. Puckering and rich on the finish, which is quite soft, leaving flavors of tart melon and burned lemon skin. Rich. Pretty lovely and quite interesting.
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2007 Jean Bourdy Côtes du Jura Vin de Paille 93 Points
France, Jura, Côtes du Jura
This wine is made from 70% Poulsard and 30% Savagnin. Jean-Francois said they're "attempting to make the beauty of the 1822" vintage of Vin de Paille. He said it's not possible to have late harvests here like they do in Bordeaux for Sauternes... just too much rain. They wind up picking at a similar time as the other wines, but then the fruit is all dried in rooms in their house. They don't wind up prressing the grapes until January, where the sugars are around 32 grams/liter. He said at this point, 100 kilograms of fruit only yield about 20-25 liters of juice for Vin de Paille. People were asking what to pair this with, suggesting perhaps Foie Gras. Jean Francois commented, "No, no Foie Gras. Please drink this alone with such quality." He commented it could be kept in the fridge open for up to 1 month. The appellation dictates that the minimum alcohol must be 14% and this particular one comes in just a hair above, at 14.1%. They make only a tiny amount of this wine... in 2010, just 350 half bottles were produced! He also commented that the 2010 was tasted by some French Sommeliers who commented that it was so good and they had "no memory of a Vin de Paille this good."
On to this bottle... the aromas are crazy delicious. Absolutely beautifully rich. It smells a little like burnt honey. Just so thick and beautiful, with light hints of nuts. Thick and luscious palate, with more of this smooth nuttiness. Quite pretty. Lovely kick up of acid on the finish, which offers really fantastic depth. Like a nutty candy. Lovely. Beautiful and fantastically delicious. It's too bad this wine is so expensive (about $100 for a 375ml), because it is certainly on par with the best desert wines on the planet.
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NV Jean Bourdy Macvin du Jura 91 Points
France, Jura, Macvin du Jura
This is produced by blending fresh grape juice with Marc, about 2 liters of juice for 1 liter of Marc. By law, it must be 16% alcohol. So basically, this is a sweet liqueur, to be drink as an aperitief, "perhaps with blue cheese." A totally different experience than the bottle I had two years ago. This offered very thick and spicy aromas. Quite rich, thick, spiced wood sap notes. Yeah, there's a bit of booze noted too, but I love the other elements. Smooth palate with hints of wood, spice, and really creamy texture. Lovely. Smooth pine sap note. Wow, just a lovely finish with wonderful acidity. So rich and beautiful. I can't believe the acid. I'll have to crack my bottle open soon and investigate further.
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NV Jean Bourdy Galant des Abbesses 92 Points
France, Jura, Côtes du Jura
I didn't go as bonkers for this as I did with my note from two years ago, but it was still wonderful. This offers very spicy and beautiful aromas. It's so rich. All of the wines of this first flight were poured together and I had to separate this from the rest because the aromas were so overpowering I could smell it from several feet away. The palate was rich and soft, with beautiful luscious texture. I loved all the interesting, integrated spices. It's amazing how you can focus on the wine and get something different each time. Still though, this wasn't nearly as expressive as it was two years ago. I need to crack one of my bottles open and enjoy it, as this should stay quite well open.
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