Nick's Jura evening

An evening of education, working our way through some of a pretty lengthy Jura wine list alongside some excellent small plates, charcuterie and cheese.

• 2019 Domaine Labet Chardonnay La Bardette 91 Points

  France, Jura, Côtes du Jura

  Medium yellow, perhaps a bit darker than you might expect a 5 year old wine to be. Rich aromas, round and full with yeasty notes which then develop with time and air into something akin to sweet fresh-from-the-oven croissants, or a sweet bun – if the wine is too cold this is neutered so let it warm up a bit. On the palate the wine confounds the expectations set by the nose by being punchily acidic and zingy, it explodes in the roof of your mouth. It reminds me of something I cannot place, but it isn’t Chardonnay! This is a pretty special wine, it generated a lot of talk around the table along with the Savagnin from the same vintage.

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• 2019 Domaine Labet Savagnin 'élevage long' La Bardette 93 Points

  France, Jura, Côtes du Jura

  More or less the same medium yellow as the chardonnay to my eye, really not much in it, also a bit darker than I was expecting. The nose is bitter, quite hoppy like a pale ale. It has that fresh attack and energy, develops sweetness as it warms, but always retains that spine-tingly and bracing citrus acidity. I also detect a reductive element in the mix that is very minor but doesn’t blow off. It’s a delicious white, universal admiration around the table. Whilst we had it with Alsatian small plates I think it could be great with seafood as well.

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• 2016 Tissot (Bénédicte et Stéphane / André et Mireille) Traminer Arbois 88 Points

  France, Jura, Arbois

  A medium evolved gold. The nose is sherried, definite oxidative characteristics, really nutty. It then seems to taste like a Madeira but *without* the oxidative note that underpins that. It’s like an old white Rhone that you opened when past its fruit-laden prime but still has a fresh feel reminiscent of a Bandol white. My experience of this type of wine is essentially zero so I find this really curious and very interesting. We talked a lot about the social circumstances in which we might open this and concluded that a large dose of nerd would be required and that the best option would be to give guests something else and retire to the garden shed with this bottle by yourself.

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• 2016 Jacques Puffeney Trousseau Arbois Bérangères 87 Points

  France, Jura, Arbois

  Medium red. Acidic, tart, pretty pleasing but somehow also quite middle-of-the-road. Elements of blood orange and sweet plum, refreshing acidity and a decent glass. However I think the conclusion was that nice as this was it didn’t really stand out and command attention in the same way as the Labet whites did, which given it was the same price was a bit of a disappointment.

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• 2022 Domaine de la Pinte Poulsard Arbois pinte bien 88 Points

  France, Jura, Arbois

  Pale to medium red. Smells really nice and lightly red-fruited. On the palate it’s initially crazily fizzy, even after a decant there is more CO2 than wine. Unless you want a Lambrusco experience give this a really good shake, or leave it in the glass for a while. Once this has gone you are left with a simple and pleasing light red, strawberry and redcurrants. I would compare this to a young Gamay in terms of fruit and pleasure, and I felt it had elements of that grape that showed after some time in the glass.

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Niche wine for obsessives was the conclusion we were probably all expecting and indeed this is how it panned out. Lovely wines you could spend a lot of time with, especially the Labet whites, but are they wines you would confidently serve to the general public?! A really good evening trying something different, most enjoyable.