A Study In Savagnin & Chardonnay

Before we get into the meat of these tasting notes, I think it’s good to offer a bit of a primer on the grapes that we’re discussing and what their characteristics are like.

Chardonnay: originally from Burgundy, chardonnay is incredibly versatile and excellent at displaying the characteristics of an area, whether it’s the cold climate blanc du blancs of champagne or the warm climate hammers of the New World, it is the grape of 1000 faces. Chardonnay is a natural fit in Jura. Arbois (the main viticulture hub of Jura) is actually closer to Beaune (the main viticulture hub of Burgundy) than Chablis is. But it’s not traditional. In Jura I find that the grape expresses itself in a cleaner, more austere way than the boldness of Burgundy. The fruit style is citrus and apple vs. apple and tropical fruits, and the wines tend to be a bit less complex.

Savagnin: The traditional white grape of Jura, savagnin ripens late and gives winemakers a lot of latitude to experiment based on harvest time changing the qualitites of the grapes. In terms of description it’s difficult to separate the flavors of the grape from the flavors of oxidization. Many seem to think that the grape itself has a walnutty character, but I would dare anyone to the non-oxidative expressions and find this. From what I’ve tasted, I think the defining flavor characteristic of savagnin itself is florality. This both shines on its own —making the oxidative notes more complex in the traditional wines of the region (we’ll get to these)—and adds complexity to the blends of itself and Chardonnay.

Rolet Cotes Du Jura 1988

Grapes: Chardonnay & Savagnin

Looks: Deep gold, verging on rust.

On the nose: Oxidative classics — baked apple, hazlenut, bleach but in a good way, shrooms, walnut, dried fruit.

On the palate: Mushrooms, nuts, touch of apple.

Price point: Gift, no idea.

Terningkast: N/A

Vin Jaune (yellow wine) is a typical style of the Jura. It’s most similar in taste and style to fino sherry, where the wine ages under partial exposure to oxygen underneath a layer of yeast (called flor in sherry, voile in vin jaune). In sherry the wine is fortified (alcohol is added in during fermentation), but Vin Jaune is built from a base wine of savagnin, which makes it entirely unique in the world of wine. Compared to fino, which has the fullbodiedness to accentuate the nutty flavors developed under oxidization, Vin Jaune is lanky, angular, and elegant. It tastes like the new generation of runway models who are almost menacing in their presentation. There is no demurring integration of components here, the flavors hit you at full force.

This is not technically Vin Jaune, as it is a blend of chardonnay and savagnin. The Vin Jaune label can only be affixed to wines that are both 100% savignin and have aged under voile for 6 years and 3 months. But the majority of the iconic flavors of Vin Jaune are on display here. It’s salty, nutty, strangely steely, has a bit of fruit, and is beyond the limits of description in many ways. It makes you think about what is a wine and what is not a wine and why. Are we so A4, inside the box, that we cannot perceive a wine without fruit as the primary characteristic as wine? Deliberate oxidization is a flavor that many have attempted to describe, but rarely capture the essence of. To me it tastes like a trail mix distillate.

This singularity and aggression in flavor makes this wine impossible for me to honestly review. It’s great, but it being great depends too much on context. Are you alone wanting to kick back some glasses on a porch? 1/6. Are you eating comte? 6/6. Every other situation in life? Somewhere between one and six. You could also compare it to other traditional wines of the region, but it’s a wasted effort in my opinion. The wines are somehow always so unique, unexpected and bracing. It’s hard to sit back and be procedural when you are getting kicked in the teeth. I sort of default to “did they mess it up” and Domaine Rolet certainly did not mess this wine up. The chardonnay in the Cotes du Jura blend is really interesting, because despite the savory, bone dry, almost bitter quality of the wine, there’s a lot more fruit and specifically baked apple than one would typically find in a Vin Jaune, which leads it to being a bit more boisterous, for better or worse.

It is strange to taste something that is so austere and unforgiving when sampled alone, yet so giving and delicious when paired with the right food. The oxidative wines of Jura should have a whole chapter on them in the European dissertation on wine as a condiment. I would argue that there is no other wine whose pleasure is so dependent on its surroundings. We drank it as we watched Eurovision and ate some great cheeses—which felt wholly inappropriate, yet entirely delicious.

Domaine Labet Les Insolites 2019

Grapes: Chardonnay & Savagnin

Looks: A summer’s peach. Light orange.

On the nose: Apricot, Golden Apple, Elderflower, a touch of VA — apple cider vinegar and passion fruit. Herbs. Luscious.

On the palate: 3D model of an apple, salinity, rosemary. High acid, watery finish of almond and apple. A nice fruit cake.

Price point: 155 EUR / 1810 NOK at auction.

Terningkast: 5/6

From the delightful purgatory of Vin Jaune, we go to the paradise of Domaine Labet’s Les Insolites maceration 2019. It is no less of an anachronism in its winemaking, but significantly more welcoming and approachable to have a casual glass of. This is 70% savagnin and 30% chardonnay, aged 35% in amphorae. If I was going to show someone an orange wine in the hopes of having them like orange wine, I would show them this. With a lot of the market, it feels like people are aiming at producing what “an orange wine should taste like” and, perhaps unsurprisingly, many winemakers have interpreted that as volatile acidity (VA), steel, apricots, and… that’s it. Labet’s expression here somehow has a lot of character beyond the basic. There is a touch of VA, but it’s well integrated into the wine and comes through as a touch of apple cider vinegar and passion fruit more than anything off the scale.

On the palate the wine really shines. It’s stone fruits in the spring time (peach, apricot) and apples, but not just apple—the full flavor of an apple. The slight bitterness of the peel, the sweetness of the flesh, and the strange savoriness approaching the core. The fruit expressions are three dimensional, which I really appreciate. There’s also components found in the Cotes du Jura that come through in this wine and elevate it to being really quite special. One can easily find rosemary and salinity on the palate and almonds on the finish. Tasting two things so disparate in style from the same place, made from the same grapes really opens one’s mind to how the grapes can be tools for expression.

Labet’s wines are often to me evocative of a specific idea they were trying to achieve, and yet still clearly from Jura. This might sound like a generic statement, but to use this wine as an example, there is clarity in the expressions and flavors that match the winemaking techniques used and the grapes grown. It is a painter with full command of their palette. The creativity in the cellar is somehow in total harmony with the fruit. There is nothing else quite like it on the market.

The end result is that the final wines are more often that not unique, without being disrespectful to the tastes and traditions of the region. If Rolet’s Cotes du Jura is relic of a bygone era, Labet’s wines are cutting the way forward for the region. I think it’s amazing that we live in a time when both can be treasured for what they are.

I used the remainder of the magnum of Cotes du Jura alongside cream and mushroom broth to create a chanterelle, porcini, and oyster mushroom sauce. Chicken was the vehicle and we drank the Labet as the pairing. This unlocked something for me, displaying the qualities of Jura in many different, delicious ways. I highly recommend it.