100% Savagnin (ouillé). The Côtes du Jura is a blend of fruit from Arbois, Passenans and Château-Chalon. The Arbois (En Chemenot) and Passenans parcels are organically farmed, with Croix and Courbet involved in the harvesting decisions. The third parcel in Château-Chalon is En Beaumont, a highly regarded lieu-dit farmed by Courbet himself and is in organic conversion. The Savagnin vines here were planted in 1962, 1985 and 1991 and are rooted in gently sloping clay and limestone scree (60-80 cm deep) over grey marl.
Every bunch was harvested by hand, and the grapes underwent a three-hour press cycle with lightly crushed whole clusters. All ferments were spontaneous, and this cuvée was raised for five months in older barrels, followed by 15 months in stainless-steel tank. Every care was taken to keep sulphur additions in the range of 20-30 ppm (none was added during maturation, and there was only a slight adjustment at bottling).
The resulting wine is super racy and fresh but also packed with all kinds of ripe citrus, dried pineapple, orange rind and bitter lemon notes. The finish is positively electric with a racy, grapefruity, tangy close that also throws some very subtle hints of lees (nuts, butter). A wine that really shines at the table. Perfect with oysters, hard cheese, grilled white fish and chicken schnitzel!