2009 Jean-François Ganevat Cuvée Julien
If terroir was a boombox……it would be one of these……pumping out the beats of the Jura for wine hipsters across the globe.
I’m loving the wines of the Jura….the best examples show amazing transparency and verve….honest wines that provide great drinking pleasure and terroiredness and I’ve been hooking into them with great gusto lately…..Love em!
The Jura is located between Burgundy and Switzerland…the gateway to the alps, with a cool climate that sometimes pushes out harvest until late October.
Jean-François Ganevat is based in the tiny hamlet of La Combe which sits above the village of Rotalier, which in turn lies just to the South of Lons-le-Saulnier….
He worked for his father on the estate from 1982 to 1989 before heading to Beaune to study winemaking. After gaining his qualifications he remained in Burgundy working for Domaine Jean-Marc Morey in Chassagne-Montrachet before returning home to the family estate in 1998.
Jean-François destems the fruit by hand before fermentation in old wooden vats utilising natural yeasts….one technique he does employ to a selected parcel of fruit each year shows what lengths he will go to for his craft….. he and his staff cut each individual berry off the bunches with scissors, leaving a few millimeters of stem attached to the grape….this keeps the grapes intact with no juice seeping from the end…..meticulousnessness….I like that.
The vineyards were 6ha in size at that point and lie with the Cotes du Jura AOC….these days they farm 8.5 ha with 1 ha rented vines. The vineyards are farmed biodynamically, have recently gained a Demeter certification, and it is rumored that Jean-François produces up to 30 different cuvées a year off the tiniest of differences in soil types within that 8.5 ha of vines….quite amazing stuff, with some cuvées being as small as 40 litres in volume.
The reds are produced with no SO2 additions at all in the winery, though I will presume that the wines that make their way over here might see just a dab at bottling. of course the wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered.
The Cuvée Julien is named after the grandfather of Jean-François, and the schisty vineyard from which the Pinot Noir hails was planted partly in 1951, with the remainder of the planting being added in 1977.
2009 is a superb vintage in the Jura and the Cuvée Julien is a terrific wine….one of great vitality, structure and harmony.
Light, washy cherry red hue in the glass.
On the nose the wine is rich in earth and minerals with spicy, red cherry fruits with some redcurrant and light raspberry high tones. It smells so beautifully pure with hints of leather, game, dried flowers, baking spices and stone. Fragrant and very alluring.
Taut, light of body and energetic on the palate with pure, fragrant red cherry and redcurrant fruits. Set on a backdrop of schist and stone are hints of leather, mahogany and soft spice with touches of game, dried flowers and a dab of garrigue. It has a terrific line on the palate and shows great sense of place with amazing complexity with a brilliant, mineral laden acid backbone.
A fantastic wine of the land and one that makes it to these shores in only minisule quantites, so if you see a bottle snap it up…..apparently they age like champions if you can keep your hands off them for a few years.
Price: $60 – Closure: Cork – Source: Dinner Party – Importer: Andrew Guard Fine Wines
If terroir was a boombox it would be one of these!
If terroir was a boombox.....
