Savoie & Jura

36 Chignin AC 2010
Gilles Berlioz

Grape:100% Jacquère (11.5% alc.)

This comes from 30 to 80 year old vines planted in clayey soil on a steep limestone hillside. It is a light, zesty wine, with surprising length and a chalky lift on the finish. For drinking now to 2014+.

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37 Roussette de Savoie AC 2009
Gilles Berlioz

Grape:100% Altesse (12% alc.)

Bone dry with a touch more body than the basic Chignin, this has an intriguing nose, richness with a hint of spice (altesse is akin to the pinot gris) and lovely white fruits with good relief from acidity on the finish. For drinking now to 2014.

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38 Chignin Bergeron AC 2007
Gilles Berlioz

Grape:100% Bergeron (12.5% alc.)

Bergeron is a synonym for the roussanne grape, and here gives an equally rich, concentrated wine with apricot/peach fruit but with more natural acidity. Fermented 100% dry and cuve aged only, it has been made from low yields, harvested in various sorties when only the ripest bunches were selected. For drinking now to 2015+.

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39 Mondeuse AC 2005
Gilles Berlioz

Grape:100% Mondeuse (12% alc.)

A brilliant wine from 50 year old vines grown in broken up mountain scree. Harvested at almost the same yield as northern Rhône syrah (42hh) and aged in cuve, it shows the kinship between mondeuse and a Côte-Rôtiesque syrah. It is elegant, spicy, with peppery, dark fruits and a stony, mineral flavour. For drinking now to 2013+.

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*New* 40 Côtes du Jura AC 2009 En Billat
Julien Labet

Grape:100% Poulsard (12.9% alc.)

This red wine comes from 70 and 110 year old vines in an excellent lieu dit. The yield was just 25hh and Julien believes this is the finest vintage he has produced to date. A delicate light pinot in colour, this has a silky texture, vibrant red fruits, touch of pepper and clear-cut minerality. Very long on the finish, it will age effortlessly. For drinking now to 2020+.

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41 Côtes du Jura AC 2007 Les Varrons
Julien Labet

Grape:100% Chardonnay (14% alc.)

This wine comes from an east facing plateau with soil that weathers to an ochre coloured decalcified clay. Made from topped up barrels preventing oxidation, this wine has an old viney character and low yield concentration. Densely structured and very long with hazelnut notes and a hint of comté. A match in terms of complexity for many fine Côte de Beaune. For drinking now to 2014.

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42 La Paille Perdue 2005
Julien Labet

Grape:55% Chardonnay, 35% Savagnin, 10% Poulsard (10.5% alc, 175g/l rs)

Julien now adds a little Poulsard to give this wine an extra dimension. La Paille Perdue is a declassified Vin de Paille, the concentration of sugar not allowing the yeasts to reach the necessary 14.5% alcohol. In fact the residual sugar of 175g/l feels totally harmonious. Concentrated lexia raisins on the palate with a refreshing acidity, and all the better for having just 10.5% alcohol. For drinking now to 2014+. price per 37.5cl Sweet.

* Half bottles are available

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43 Arbois Blanc AC 2006
Jacques Puffeney

Grape:100% Savagnin (13% alc.)

This wine comes from blue-grey marls, and has been aged for two years under a veil of yeast, in four to five year old barrels. From 30hh yields, it has wonderful mushroomy, hazlenutty flavours, nicely relieved by the savagnin’s characteristic acidity. For drinking now to 2016.

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44 Arbois Vin Jaune AC 1999
Jacques Puffeney

Grape:100% Savagnin (14% alc.)

Vin Jaune is the Jura region’s real speciality, from late-harvested savagnin – pressed and then aged under a yeast veil in older oak for six years, then assembled and aged in foudre for a further year. It is bottled (naturally, without filtration) in a distinctive ‘clavelin’ with a long neck and hunched shoulders – which holds 62cl – the amount of one litre of wine that is said to remain after six years of evaporation. Superb with rich, creamy dishes, it has a flavour not dissimilar to an aged amontillado sherry, with walnut and truffley tones. For drinking now to 2100.

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Savoie & Jura

In Savoie we work (exclusively in the UK) with Gilles Berlioz who produces top quality wines from tiny steep hillside vineyards, bottles the wines after the skiers have departed, and then finds an appreciative restaurant clientele throughout France and abroad. Gilles is now one of Savoie’s leading winemakers with just over three hectares of vines. From the 2005 vintage all his wines are agro-bio certified and from 2006 he went one step further by converting to bio-dynamics. His vines produce ridiculously small yields: four to five bunches of grapes per vine (which helps to give vital maximum aeration) producing 30 to 35hh, except for Jacquère which gives 50 hectos, when the average for the appellation pushes 70 hectos. A little like Cyril Fhal in Roussillon and Richard Leroy in Anjou, Gilles looks after his vines as though they were flowers in his back garden. He is helped by his wife Christine who is also a part-time nurse, and on the ploughing front by a mare called Paula! His wines are very individual, unforced and natural - none of them have been aged in oak.

Followers of our Jura offerings will be no strangers to the wines of Domaine Labet. However, we are very pleased to now offer the wines of Julien Labet. Julien has been working three hectares separate to the nine hectares of Domaine Labet (his family’s domaine) since 2003. Both estates work very naturally – minimum intervention, hand harvest, indigenous yeasts – but the smaller structure of Julien’s domaine allows him to experiment more. He lets grass grow between the rows. He uses no insecticide or herbicide and uses organic fertilisers. Julien’s yields are 35% lower (12-30hh). He uses half the level of sulphur and experiments with zero-sulphur cuvées. Most crucially you really can see the difference in the glass – his Côtes du Jura Les Varrons 2007 is a class apart from the creditable Les Varrons from Domaine Labet. As for his Paille Perdue, grab some while you can!