Croix & Courbet

High Voltage (and Highly Limited) Jura Back in Stock
Croix & Courbet
For anyone new to the party, this micro-Jura project is a partnership between David Croix―one of Burgundy’s young superstars―and his great mate, Damien Courbet. Courbet is Jura born and bred and manages his own family domaine in Nevy-sur-Seille, next door to the Château-Chalon appellation. The pair craft expressions of Savagnin ouillé (topped up) that emphasise purity and terroir rather than flor-aging notes. They make wines across the Côtes du Jura, with the wine in today’s offer coming from the appellation of Arbois.

For those lucky enough to have tasted Croix’s frighteningly good Corton-Charlemagne, it will come as no surprise that the style of the wine hinges on purity and tension. Don’t come here looking for overtly oxidative Savagnin sous voile. On the contrary, this wine is kept topped and offers a pure, precise and mineral expression of the Jura terroir.

While all the grapes are purchased, Croix and Courbet pay well over the market value, encouraging their growers to work as diligently as possible. The pair also choose the picking dates and oversee harvesting. In the cellar, the winemaking is strictly artisanal, with only native yeast ferments. Courbet believes that Savagnin is much more robust than Chardonnay and it certainly has lower pH’s as a rule, allowing the pair to keep sulphur doses to the bare minimum.

Shaped by the vintage’s tiny yields and the electrifying freshness of the grapes, The En Chemenot 2021 is a dazzling wine―chiselled, racy and saline, with stone-sculpted texture (what a French taster might call eau de roche). If we were in Burgundy, such quality would be twice the price, if not more. If you’re keen (and you should be), please act fast—we have only a few cases to go around.

The Wine

Croix & Courbet Arbois En Chemenot Savagnin Ouillé 2021
Sold Out
Added

Croix & Courbet Arbois En Chemenot Savagnin Ouillé 2021

100% Savagnin (ouillé). The Arbois lieu-dit of En Chemenot lies just east of the village (Domaine des Cavarodes produces a Poulsard from the same site). This north-facing hillside plot at 350 metres elevation sits on blue and grey marl. The Savagnin was planted in 2004, and the vineyard is managed using organic and biodynamic methods. Courbet is delighted with the quality coming from these vines (a portion of which is also used for the Côtes du Jura blend).

The winemaking here was similar to the Côtes du Jura—hand harvest, natural yeasts, low sulphur, etc. This cuvée was vinified in cement egg tank (90%) and a one-year-old barrel. Croix likes the tension and minerality the egg brings to the density of this vineyard’s fruit. And tension is again the word. On the nose, there’s lifted green pear and ginger spice, honeysuckle too: really inviting, leading to a linear palate draped in citrus, pithy and saline nuance. Then, there’s a cool hint of fresh cucumber, pink salt, and some classy lees again. Long and driven, it’s a wine that loves air (and food). Give it a good decant. It was (by the way) pH 3.1 after malolactic conversion! Again, any seafood, Comté or other hard cheeses, or roast chicken and grilled pork chops would make for terrific matches.

Croix & Courbet Arbois En Chemenot Savagnin Ouillé 2021
Sold Out
Added

Other Recent Releases

  • Loire Valley – Roots, Rivers, Rocks
    Loire Valley – Roots, Rivers, Rocks
    LOIRE… Within the single, leisurely syllable of France's longest river flows an ocean o...
    LOIRE… Within the single, leisurely syllable of France's longest river flows an ocean of intricate detail. It’s a poorly kept secret that all of us...

    Read more

  • Théo Dancer 2023
    Théo Dancer 2023
    There is a lot of young talent in Burgundy today, but, to be frank, we do not know of a...
    There is a lot of young talent in Burgundy today, but, to be frank, we do not know of a more gifted or driven young grower than Théo Dancer. He pro...

    Read more

  • Bachelet-Monnot 2022
    Bachelet-Monnot 2022
    2022 brought nothing but good news for Marc and Alexandre Bachelet, whose perennially o...
    2022 brought nothing but good news for Marc and Alexandre Bachelet, whose perennially overperforming Burgundies have earned them a stellar...

    Read more

  • La Réméjeanne
    La Réméjeanne
    The high-altitude village of Sabran takes some tracking down. Yet it’s one of those pla...
    The high-altitude village of Sabran takes some tracking down. Yet it’s one of those places that is “worth a special journey”, as the Michelin Guide...

    Read more

  • Bérêche et Fils
    Bérêche et Fils
    The Champenois are au fait with Australia's love affair with their sparkling wares, and...
    The Champenois are au fait with Australia's love affair with their sparkling wares, and even the greatest growers are gratefully aware of the disce...

    Read more

  • In The Pink – Serious Rosés from Home and Away
    In The Pink – Serious Rosés from Home and Away
    Rosé’s days as mere summer cameo are well and truly over. Recent years have seen the ca...
    Rosé’s days as mere summer cameo are well and truly over. Recent years have seen the category lift its game, with serious producers making seriousl...

    Read more

  • Domaine Huet
    Domaine Huet
    It’s tempting to say Huet pulled off a miracle in 2023. But then, the great growers mak...
    It’s tempting to say Huet pulled off a miracle in 2023. But then, the great growers make their own luck. So, let’s say they have pulled off a maste...

    Read more

  • Great Value Imports
    Great Value Imports
    A new year dawns, and with it, renewed appreciation for life’s simple pleasures. The se...
    A new year dawns, and with it, renewed appreciation for life’s simple pleasures. The season’s indulgences might have loosened our belts...

    Read more

  • Bernard Defaix & Jaeger-Defaix
    Bernard Defaix & Jaeger-Defaix
    oday, we offer our last tranche of Defaix’s outstanding 2022 wines from Chablis and Rul...
    oday, we offer our last tranche of Defaix’s outstanding 2022 wines from Chablis and Rully, plus the latest Chablis arrivals from 2023. There were a...

    Read more

View All Offers

More Content

Read More About this Producer
Welcome