Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, Wine Blog Awards!, 2013 Bordeaux and Rioja, #winechat tonight
Meritage time!
Let’s start with the answer to the wine quiz #100, Grape Trivia – Blends, Part 4.
For the long time, the grape trivia series was focused on the single grapes. But now we are stirring things up, so all the questions in the quiz are about blends (well, even if it is a blend of one ), as most of the wines in the world are actually blends. As usual, there were 5 questions in the quiz.
Here are the questions, now with the answers:
Q1: True or False: Even if the bottle of wine states the vintage and is made out of 100% of the same grape, there is a very good chance that the wine is still a blend. Explain your answer.
A1: True. Now, this proved to be a very difficult question. Not the “true or false” part of it, of course – but practically nobody (with one exception) managed to provide a satisfactory explanation as to why even if the wine is made out of 100% of the same grape, it is very likely to be still a blend. If wine technical data says that it is made from 100% of Chardonnay, for example, there is no way that any other grapes where blended in. However, have you seen the words “30% malolactic fermentation” or “aged in 15% new French oak barrels”? For the most part, the wine you get in the bottle is the blend – the blend of wines from the different barrels, the blend of wines fermented with different yeasts, or somehow else differently processed. Also (as it was correctly noted in one of the answers), the wine can be made from exact same grape, but be a blend of different vintages (up to 15% allowed in US wines).
Q2: This white grape is known to produce beautiful, delicately perfumed wines. In some appellations in France, it is also the only white grape allowed to be blended into the red wines. Do you know what grape it is?
A2: Viognier. While it makes great wines on its own, it can be blended with Syrah in Northern Rhone or Shiraz in Australia to change the bouquet of the resulting wine.
Q3: What is common between Cabernet Franc, Riesling and Vidal?
A3: All three varietals are used to produce Icewine in Canada.
Q4: Which one is missing?
Rondinella, Corvina, Molinara, ?, Croatina, Negrara, Oseletta
A4: My intended answer was Corvinone, as the grapes listed above are all used in production of Amarone wines. However, I learned quite a bit myself from the answers, and I understand that in Amarone, similar to all other regions in the world, there is an effort to bring back to life many indigenous varieties, thus Forsellina, Pelara and Rossignola would be also all correct answers.
Q5: I’m drinking a delicious French white dry wine, made out of Clairette and Roussane. What AOC designation this wine most likely has?
A5: Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Some of the best white wines in Châteauneuf-du-Pape are made exactly out of the combination of these two grapes. It is possible that such wine would be produced in just a Côtes du Rhône appellation, however, it would be rather expected to see Marsanne as part of the blend, which is a lot easier to produce than Roussanne. However, Marsanne is not allowed in the Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines.
When it comes to the results, I’m very happy with participation in the quiz. However, there was only one full answer for the question #1, which is proven to be most difficult. Thus we don’t have the grand winner(s) this time around, but I would like to definitely acknowledge Gene Castellino (no web site), Julian of vinoinlove and Jennifer (no web site) who all correctly answered 4 questions out of 5. I also would like to acknowledge Steve of Caspernick blog, who provided a good explanation for the question #1. Thank you all for playing, well done!
Now, to the interesting stuff around the vine and the web!
Once again it is the time for Wine Blog Award nominations! This is an 8th annual Blog Awards round, where the best wine blogs are getting their peer recognition. There are 9 different categories for the Wine Blog Awards, so there are plenty of opportunities to get your favorite blogs acknowledged. Here is your link for the Blog Award nominations. And if you like what you read in this blog, I would greatly appreciate your nominations! Note – there are less than 3 days left – nominations are closed on May 2nd, so hurry!
Looks like 2013 vintage didn’t fair too well in some parts of the Europe. Here is an article for you, explaining why 2013 Bordeaux are better be avoided (in a few simple words, it is all about price/performance). Also, 2013 Rioja doesn’t seem to be the vintage to really look forward to – it was rated as “Good” by the Rioja DOC counsel, which is behind “very good” and “excellent” ratings which were given to most of the recent vintages. Of course the things can be worse – there are possible “satisfactory” and “average” ratings, which are even lower than “good”, but those are assigned very rarely. Well, as usual in the average vintages, you need to look for the better producers – as an example, La Rioja Alta Vina Alberdi from 2003 vintage (also rated “good”), was an outstanding wine. Here is the link for the Decanter article where you can read more on the subject of 2013 Rioja.
Last, but not least – new #winechat tonight! This time the subject is the Rhone and Zins of Cline Cellars. I think everybody know Cline Cellars from California as a Zinfandel producer, but looks like we are in for some interesting surprises tonight (Mourvedre, anyone? Marsanne/Roussanne?). To join the #winechat, just click this link at 9 PM Eastern time/ 6 PM Pacific, and you are in! For more information about past and future #winechat events, please use this link for the #winechat FaceBook page. Talk to you tonight!
And we are done here. The glass is empty – but the refill is on its way! Cheers!
Passion For Jura – The Wines
In the previous “Passion for Jura” post, we talked about the region – history, terroir, grapes and types of wines – but we didn’t talk about the wines themselves. “Passion for Jura” was the name of the seminar and tasting which I recently attended in New York city, where I had an opportunity for the first time to really immerse into the fascinating world of one of the oldest wine producing regions, which is really unknown in US.
During the seminar, 6 wines were presented by the winemakers themselves. The idea was to let us experience the full range of the Jura wines (for some strange reason, Vin Jaune was not presented during the seminar). Here are the wines we tasted:
NV Domaine Jacques Tissot Cremant du Jura Blanc Brut (12% ABV) – 100% Chardonnay, refreshing grassy nose, very acidic, bubbles are present but somewhat muted in the glass. Creamy mouthfeel with toasted bread and apple on the nose. Overall, not bad, but lacking a bit an overall energy of the sparkling wine.
2011 Domaine de la Pinte Jura Arbois Polsard de L’Ami Karl (11.5% ABV) – light, refreshing, cranberries with the touch of barnyard, herbs (sage), light but with the nice tannins. Very interesting and very enjoyable.
2011 Benoit Badoz Vermiel (13.5% ABV, 70% Trosseau, 30% Pinot Noir) – fresh grapey nose – not a pronounced as Beaujolais Nouveau, but still quite explicit. Cherries and blackberries show up next. Beautiful, smokey notes on the palate, a bit sharp, but fresh. Clean acidity, long pleasant finish. Somewhat similar to Oregon Pinot Noir, but more round. Also has a noticeable green component.
Compare the colors of the two red wines in the tasting:
2011 Domaine Champ Divin Cotes du Jura (13% ABV, Chardonnay/Savagnin blend) – vanilla, minerality on the nose. Delicious. Acidity and minerality on the palate, fresh apples, very refreshing
2009 Fruitiére D’Arbois Savagnin Arbois AOC (14% ABV, 100% Savagnin) – oxidation is very much pronounced, pretty much like with Sherry, both on the nose and the palate. This wine is typically made as Vin Jaune, but it requires lesser aging time. After the wine breathes, it becomes much less aggressive and comes through as clean, despite the oxidation.
2009 Domaine Pierre Richard Vin de Paille (15% ABV) – delicious nose. Palate is beautiful, with refreshing acidity, touch of bitterness, and full of fresh juicy apricots. Wow!
And here is the list of some of the wines I tasted during the walk around tasting. The place was small, and got very crowded after a while, so I didn’t taste the wines from all 20 producers. As usual for the trade tasting, I’m using the “+” sign system. The wines mentioned below were my favorites, for the most cases with “+++” ratings with some exceptions (of course), such as “++-|” and “++++”.
2010 Domaine Jacques Tissot Arbois Chardonnay (12.5% ABV) – +++, beautiful!
2012 Domaine Jacques Tissot Arbois Chardonnay La Mailloche (12.5% ABV) – +++-|, butter and balance! perfect.
2009 Domaine Jacques Tissot Arbois Savagnin (13% ABV) – +++, very elegant
2006 Domaine Jacques Tissot Arbois Vin Jaune (14.5% ABV) – +++, mushrooms and forest floor! should be amazing with savory dishes. Vin Jaune can last for 6 month after being opened.
2010 Domaine Jacques Tissot Arbois Trousseau (12.5% ABV) – ++-|, clean, elegant, light – red which more feels like white
NV Domaine Jacques Tissot Macvin du Jura (17% ABV) – very unusual palate, with raspberries, almost taste like Framboise, very nice. Can last for 6 month in the fridge.
2010 Domaine Jacques Tissot Cotes du Jura Pinot Noir (12% ABV) – ++-|, very interesting and unusual for a Pinot Noir
2012 Domaine Désire Petit Ploussard (12.5% ABV) – +++, smokey nose!
2012 Domaine Désire Petit Trousseau (12.5% ABV) – ++-|, dry, clean, nice
2012 Domaine Désire Petit Chardonnay (12.5% ABV) – ++-|, clean, classic, minerality!
2012 Domaine Désire Petit Savagnin Ouillé (13% ABV) – +++, 6 month in oak, very complex wine
2011 Domaine Désire Petit Tradition (12.5% ABV, 25% Savagnin) – +++, perfect acidity
2008 Domaine Désire Petit Savagnin(13% ABV) – ++-|, delicate, elegant
2007 Domaine Désire Petit Vin de Paille (14.5% ABV) – +++, prunes on the nose! perfect balance
2012 Domaine Berthet-Bondet Cotes du Jura Chardonnay (12.5% ABV) – ++-|, light, round
2012 Domaine Berthet-Bondet Cotes du Jura Naturé (13% ABV) -+++, good fruit
2012 Domaine Berthet-Bondet Cotes du Jura Tradition (13% ABV) -+++, delicious
2005 Domaine Philippe Bornard Arbois Pupillin La Chamade Ploussard (12.8% ABV) – ++++, wow!
2011 Domaine Philippe Bornard Arbois Pupillin La Chamade Ploussard (13.5% ABV) – +++, wow! delicious, sweet undertones
2011 Domaine Philippe Bornard Arbois Pupillin Trousseau Le Ginglet (12% ABV) – +++, delicious complexity in the back
2011 Domaine Philippe Bornard Arbois Pupillin Savagnin Ouille Les Chassagnes (13.5% ABV) – ++-|, complex
2011 Domaine Philippe Bornard Chardonnay Les Gaudrettes (12.5% ABV) – +++, complex, delicate!
2011 Domaine Philippe Bornard Arbois Pupillin L’Ivresse de Noé (14% ABV) – +++, late harvest Savagnin, a touch of sweetness, delicious complexity
I also tasted 4 different Vin Jaune wines from Domaine André & Mireille Tissot, all from 2007 vintage, all single vineyard, and all delicious, with the one from Chateau-Chalon being the best – unfortunately, as all those wines were not listed in the tasting brochure, I can’t give you their exact names – but look for Domaine André & Mireille Tissot Vin Jaune – they are well worth your attention.
That concludes my report on the Passion for Jura tasting. Based on my experience, I can simply tell you – Jura makes delicious wines, and you need to experience them. Go to your wine merchant and ask for the Jura wines by name – and let me know how you will like them. Cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #100: Grape Trivia – Blends, Part 4
The Wine Quiz series is not meant to intimidate. The whole idea here is to have fun and learn something new. When answering the questions, it is fully encouraged to use all available sources of information, including Google or any other search engine. There are no embarrassing answers – the most embarrassing thing is not giving it a try…
Welcome to the weekend and your new wine quiz!
We are continuing our grape trivia series, focusing on the blends, even if it is a blend of 1. White, Red, Rosé, Sparkling, Still, Fortified and Dessert – all goes. Oh yes, and we will blend in some regions as well.
And now, to the quiz!
Q1: True or False: Even if the bottle of wine states the vintage and is made out of 100% of the same grape, there is a very good chance that the wine is still a blend. Explain your answer.
Q2: This white grape is known to produce beautiful, delicately perfumed wines. In some appellations in France, it is also the only white grape allowed to be blended into the red wines. Do you know what grape it is?
Q3: Whats is common between Cabernet Franc, Riesling and Vidal?
Q4: Which one is missing?
Rondinella, Corvina, Molinara, ?, Croatina, Negrara, Oseletta
Q5: I’m drinking a delicious French white dry wine, made out of Clairette and Roussane. What AOC designation this wine most likely has?
Good luck, enjoy the quiz and your weekend! Cheers!
Fears of the Oenophile
It feels strange, may be even bad, to re-blog your own post, I know. So if you disapprove, lash away in the comments section. But it suddenly came to me, that I already had covered the theme of the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge #9, “Fear“. Re-reading that older post I thought – yes, even if I’m to write the new one, it would still be along the same lines. Thus, here is my #MWWC9 contribution:
Another Wine Marathon – Last Bottle Marathon Madness – Starting Today!
Yes, I know – this is a last minute note – but I just got an e-mail about it…
Only yesterday the dust settled after the WTSO Magnum Marathon, yet another one of my favorite [amazing] value wine purveyors is throwing in a challenge to our wallets and our storage spaces (who had been threatened recently by the significant other to go live outside of the house “if you only…” on one or both counts – raise your hand!) – Last Bottle Madness Marathon will be starting today (04/24) at 12 PM Eastern/ 9 AM Pacific time, and continuing for the next 48 hours, or until the Last Bottle cellar will be empty.
All the wines will be offered in the rapid succession, without any notifications – no twitter, no e-mails, no text messages. The only way to follow the madness is by constantly refreshing your browser window. There are no minimum requirements – you can buy 1 bottle at a time, it is fine. All the wines you will buy will be shipped together 2-3 weeks after the event.
You will need to have an account with Last Bottle wines, and I suggest that in that account you will have all the information ready to go – speaking from the experience, the wine you want might be well gone by the time you will finish putting in expiration date for your credit card. In case if you don’t have a Last Bottle account already, I will be glad to be your reference – if you will sign up using this link, you will get $5 credit on your first order (yes, I will get $20 credit after your first purchase – but once you are in, now you will be the one who will tell friends about it). In case the link doesn’t work, feel free to send me an e-mail to talkavino-info (at) yahoo (dot) com.
Happy [amazing wine at great value] hunting!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, Wine and Biodynamics, Rioja Week in New York, Water Witching and #winechat tonight
Let’s start with the answer to the wine quiz #99, Grape Trivia – Blends, Part 3.
For the long time, the grape trivia series was focused on the single grapes. But now we are stirring things up, so all the questions in the quiz are about blends (well, even if it is a blend of one), as most of the wines in the world are actually blends. As usual, there were 5 questions in the quiz.
Here are the questions, now with the answers:
Q1: Sangiovese is the main grape used in production of Chianti. By itself, sometimes it might lack the intensity of the color. For a while, another grape was added to Sangiovese wines specifically to enhance their color. Can you name that grape?
A1: Colorino. It was popular addition for a short while, but now only very few producers still add it.
Q2: I’m blending together Xarel-lo, Macabeo and Parellada. Which wine I’m most likely making?
A2: Cava – the Spanish sparkling wine. These three grapes are generally a classic blend for a Spanish Cava.
Q3: In the past, this white grape used to be blended into the Chianti wines, and now its use is simply prohibited in some of those Chianti wines. Can you name that grape?
A3: Trebbiano, a.k.a. Ugni Blanc, a.k.a. Malvasia Fina (be careful – just using the name Malvasia is incorrect). It used to be a required grape in the Chianti blend, which was leading to diluted, dull wines. Since 2006, Trebbiano use is banned in Chianti Classico wines.
Q4: You can say whatever you want, but Bordeaux and Burgundy are the hallmarks of wine world, and everybody try to measure up to them. Name two regions in Italy, one sometimes compared to Bordeaux, and another one to Burgundy.
A4: Tuscany is often compared to Bordeaux, and Piedmont, or to be more specific, Barolo wines, are often compared to the Burgundy. While Tuscany/Bordeaux parallel is more of the terroir/climate based, the reason for Barolo/Burgundy comparison lies in complicated Vineyard/Sub-zone/Cru/Parcel system of wine identification in Barolo.
Q5: Name the missing grape: Crljenak Kaštelanski, Primitivo, ?, Zinfandel
A5: Tribidrag. All the listed grapes are close relatives of Zinfandel, with Tribidrag being recently discovered as direct predecessor of Zinfandel.
When it comes to the results, we had a great participation in the quiz, and we have a winner – Julian of VinoinLove, who correctly answered all 5 questions! Julian get the coveted prize of unlimited bragging rights. Also (no web site), Jeff a.k.a.the drunken cyclist and Mario Plazio (no web site) are all answered correctly 4 questions out of 5, and they get the honorable mention. Well done, everyone – and we are going to continue blending things up for a while.
Now, to the interesting stuff around the vine and the web!
Last week’s #winechat was all about Biodynamics – we were talking about the wines of Youngberg Hill, the winery in Oregon, were the wines are made using biodynamics. I understand that there is a lot of controversy surrounding the concept of Biodynamics, with all the cow horns, bladders and water manipulations – but a lot of it makes sense if you think about the whole approach holistically. I want to share with you a great article from The Oregonian, which explains in detail how biodynamics works in the vineyard.
Rioja is coming to New York City! Starting Saturday, April 26, there will be a whole slew of events taking place all over the city – seminars, tastings, grand tasting, wine and tapas event and more. Don’t miss the opportunity to experience the vibrancy of the magical Rioja – here is your link for all the information regarding the Rioja festivities. I will be attending the trade tasting and seminar on Thursday – drop me a note if you plan to be there as well.
Heard of water witching? It appears that Marc Mondavi, a son of the legendary winemaker Peter Mondavi, not only makes wine in California – he also possesses special abilities to find water under ground, using set of two special rods. Whether you believe in the water witchery or not, this video and the blog post are quite interesting.
Last but least for today – don’t miss the #winechat tonight! Last from the Oregon Pinot Noir series, tonight we will be talking about the wines of J Wrigley Vineyard – #winechat is easy to join on twitter, just follow the #winechat hashtag, and they are always fun! 9 PM Easter/ 6 PM Pacific – don’t miss it!
And we are done here. The glass is empty – but the refill is on its way! Cheers!
Passion for Jura – The Land
Let’s say you are talking to an oenophile. Ask her to name the major wine regions in France. I’m sure that Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne will be first. With the small pause, Loire and Rhone will follow, and then may be (may be!) Languedoc. I wonder how many of the oenophiles will mention Jura? Next question might be even more “tricky” – how many oenophiles tasted Jura wines? And the trickiest question of all – how many of you, my readers, tasted Jura wines? No, you don’t need to answer – Jura wines are almost impossible to find in US, and very difficult to find outside of France in general, so it is not surprising that they are not winning popularity contests, and thus it is really not your fault that you are not familiar with Jura wines.
We live in the times of the dramatic globalization of wine. Not only wine is exceedingly produced in the new and unusual places, but wine availability is becoming more and more global. No, Jura is not a newcomer to the world of wine, if anything, it is quite the opposite – Jura wines had been produced for more than two thousand years. The global availability is what changed – as consumers demand more and different wines, Jura wines, which are definitely unique and different, are becoming better known and more demanded.
Few days ago I was lucky to attend the wine tasting in New York City, called Passion for Jura, which was a great learning experience. The event consisted of seminar and walk around tasting, with more than 20 producers represented. Before we talk about wines themselves, lets take a look at the Jura region and many of its unique qualities first.
Jura region is a narrow stretch of land, about 50 miles long and less than 2 miles wide, in the north-west part of France, sandwiched between Burgundy and Switzerland. First mentions of the Jura region go all the way back to 80 A.D. When it comes to the different aspects of terroir, climate in Jura is somewhat similar to Burgundy, with the potential for more severe cold temperatures, especially during winter time. Soils are probably the most unique aspect of Jura terroir, with some of the shale formations aging between 200 and 230 million years – so yes, you can probably find dinosaur imprints in that soil, if you look deep enough. Overall, the difference in the age of soil can be quite dramatic, tens of millions of years between the neighboring vineyards.
Jura wines were well regarded in France, with Arbois (one of the main towns in the region) wines being known for what they are since the 10th century, and Château-Chalon wines (this is where the famous Vin Jaune is made) being well known since the 16th century. Similarly to all other winemaking regions in France, Phylloxera wrecked havoc in Jura’s wine industry. Before the Phylloxera, Jura region had about 50,000 acres under the vine, with 42 grape varieties, out of which 14 were identified in 1774 as “good grapes”. Today, Jura region has only about 5,000 acres planted, and only 5 varietals are used in the winemaking. Of course everything has two sides – only the best areas were replanted after the Phylloxera epidemic, and only with the grapes which produced the best results, so yes, there is silver lining in most everything in this life.
It is impossible to talk about Jura and not to mention a few of the famous people who dramatically impacted the wine world, while living in Jura at the same time. First, of course is Louis Pasteur, whose seminal work “Studies its diseases, their causes and new preservation and aging process“, published in 1886, was really a key element of the modern oenology. While Pasteur’s name is probably familiar to many, I wonder how many people will recognize the name of Alexis Millardet, also of Jura – meanwhile, he came up with the technique of grafting French vines on the American rootstock, which allowed to restart the French wine industry after the Phylloxera devastation. And the last person I would like to mention here is Joseph Girard, a resident of Arbois, who founded INAO (National Institute of Denominations of Origin) and was instrumental in establishing the AOC system of quality, which was subsequently copied all over the world. It is probably not very surprising that the very first AOC in France, established in 1936, was … the Arbois AOC!
Let’s talk about the grapes. Now, this is somewhat of the simple task, as there are only 5 grapes growing in Jura – 3 reds and 2 whites. Here they are:
Poulsard – indigenous red grape of Jura, sometimes also called Ploussard. Most planted red grape in Jura (about 40% of all red grape plantings), and about 14% of total grape plantings. Produces bright looking wines, almost Rosé in color, which are very refreshing and age quite well.
Trousseau – another red grape of Jura, part of the Savagnin family, most likely originated in Jura. The same grape is known as Bastardo in Portugal. Has about 8% of the total planted area, and about 22% of the red grape plantings. Often blended with Pinot Noir.
Pinot Noir – was introduced in Jura in 14th century. Has about 13% of the total plantings, and a bit less that 40% of the red grape plantings. Early ripening variety, thus has high degree of risk of frost damage in spring.
Chardonnay – same as Pinot Noir, was introduced in Jura in 14th century. Also known as Melon d’Arbois in the north, and Gamay Blanc in the south. Few vignerons are still growing Melon á Queue Rouge, a rare red clone of Chardonnay. Chardonnay is the most popular grape in Jura, at about 43% of total area plantings and 2/3 of the white grapes plantings.
Savagnin – most famous grape of Jura, and the only one allowed to be used in Vin Jaune. Late ripening variety with low yield. makes up about 22% of the total grape plantings and about 1/3 of the white grape plantings.
Before we get to the styles of wines and regions, let me give you a few interesting numbers. With 5,000 acres planted, there are about 300 grape growers in Jura, each taking care of about 17 acres of vineyards. There are also about 200 producers and about 100 villages in the Jura region.
With only 5 grapes, Jura produces a great variety of stylistically very different wines. Historically, Jura wine were very unique, as oxidation always played a very important role in the white wines of Jura. While oxidation is great, as the oxidized wine can be preserved almost forever, it doesn’t necessarily appeal to the tastes of the mass of the wine drinkers in the world. Starting in 1990, the style of Jura wines started to change, to move from oxidized to fresh, generally more acceptable style. As the result, there is a number of styles which you need to be aware of in order to make sure the wine will actually taste as you would expect instead of “OMG, what is it???”. Additional problem is that these styles are not necessarily clearly indicated on the from label, so sometimes you really need to look through all the information on the labels and outside in order to understand what type of wine it is. The oxidation is only relevant to the white wines, so the styles of the white wines are:
- Ouillé – non-oxidized
- non-Ouillé – oxidized
- Naturé – Savagnin wine in the oxidized style
- Tradition – a blend of oxidized Savagnin and Chardonnay
For what I understand, all it means is that if you don’t see the word Ouillé somewhere on the label or description of the wine, there is a good chance that the wine will be oxidized – if anyone who reads this post has better knowledge of the subject, I would greatly appreciate the comment!
Tired yet? We are almost done! Last part – let’s talk about wine styles and appellations. Before we get to the Jura details, one general note. Have you noticed the words AOP showing up more and more on the wine labels, especially on the latest releases of wine? This is because the French government, following overall EU requirements, is changing the AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) nomenclature to the AOP (Appellation d’Origine Protégée), so you should expect to see the words AOP more and more on the bottles of French wines.
Jura uses total of 6 appellation designations – 2 of them are product designations, and 4 are geographical designations. Additionally, there are two wines which can be made in different appellations but they still have very specific product requirements. Here we are:
Crémant du Jura AOP – this is the product AOP for Sparkling wines in Jura. Made by the traditional (méthode champenoise) method, with 9 month minimum aging on lees. The wine can be produced anywhere in Jura, using all 5 varietals. Grapes should be harvested by hand and whole-cluster pressed.
Macvin du Jura AOP – this is the product AOP for fortified dessert wines. Can be made anywhere in Jura AOPs using any of the 5 grapes. The wine is made by blending of 2/3 of unfermented grape juice with 1/3 of the local brandy, called Marc du Jura, which should be made at the same property from the grape skin pomace. The wine should be aged for at least 12 month in the oak barrels before release.
Arbois AOP – geographic AOP, the biggest in terms of production. All 5 grapes are grown and permitted in production of the wines, with all types of wine allowed for production.
Château-Chalon AOP – a dedicated geographic AOP for production of Vin Jaune. Savagnin is the only allowed grape, harvested late. If any other wines are made, they are designated as Côtes du Jura. For more details, please see below.
Côtes du Jura AOP – a geographic AOP. All 5 grapes are allowed to be used, and all styles of wines can be produced.
L’Étoile AOP – a geographic AOP, the smallest in Jura, consisting of only 4 villages. Only Chardonnay, Savagnin and Poulsard are allowed. All styles of the wines can be produced.
Vin Jaune – Most famous wine of Jura, so called “yellow” or “golden” wine. Can be made only out of the 100% Savagnin, in any of the 4 geographic AOPs. The grape is harvested late, and vinified as any other white wine would. After that, the wine is aged in the oak barrels which are not completely filled up. The barrels are never topped off and never racked. Similar to the Jerez, the thin film is formed on the wine’s surface, which is called The Veil – it allows the wine to age gently. The minimum age of the wine before it can be bottled is 6 years and 3 month. The wine requires pre-tasting prior to the bottling, and it is produced only in the good years. Vin Jaune is bottled in the special bottles called Clavelin, which contain 620 ml – Jura winemakers had to endure a long fight with the authorities in order to keep the historical, but not EU standard size (750ml) of the bottle.
Vin de Paille – the dessert! Generally produced from Chardonnay, Savagnin, Poulsard and sometimes Trousseau in Arbois, L’Étoile or Côtes du Jura AOPs. The grapes are harvested early and then dried up either in the boxes or hanged up in the air for 3 -5 month. After pressing, the wine have to age for at least 3 years with minimum of 18 month in the oak.
Whew, and we are pretty much done. Believe it or not, but I think this is probably the longest ever post with the least number of pictures – if not The longest, then definitely one of the longest. Jura is unique and special region, as you will see when we will be talking about the wines in the next post, and I really wanted to give you all the information together, without breaking it into the pieces. If you are still reading it – I definitely want to thank you for your patience. I hope you learned something new here. Also, if you have an experience with Jura wines, your comments and opinion will be greatly appreciated. Hell, your comments will be greatly appreciated even if you never heard of Jura wines till today. With that, until the next time – cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #99: Grape Trivia – Blends, Part 3
The Wine Quiz series is not meant to intimidate. The whole idea here is to have fun and learn something new. When answering the questions, it is fully encouraged to use all available sources of information, including Google or any other search engine. There are no embarrassing answers – the most embarrassing thing is not giving it a try…
Welcome to the weekend and your new wine quiz!
We are continuing our grape trivia series, focusing on the blends, even if it is a blend of 1. White, Red, Rosé, Sparkling, Still, Fortified and Dessert – all goes. Oh yes, and we will blend in some regions as well.
And now, to the quiz!
Q1: Sangiovese is the main grape used in production of Chianti. By itself, sometimes it might lack the intensity of the color. For a while, another grape was added to Sangiovese wines specifically to enhance their color. Can you name that grape?
Q2: I’m blending together Xarel-lo, Macabeo and Parellada. Which wine I’m most likely making?
Q3: In the past, this white grape used to be blended into the Chianti wines, and now its use is simply prohibited in some of those Chianti wines. Can you name that grape?
Q4: You can say whatever you want, but Bordeaux and Burgundy are the hallmarks of wine world, and everybody try to measure up to them. Name two regions in Italy, one sometimes compared to Bordeaux, and another one to Burgundy.
Q5: Name the missing grape: Crljenak Kaštelanski, Primitivo, ?, Zinfandel
Good luck, enjoy the quiz and your weekend! Cheers!