Côtes du Jura

France · AOC (PDO) · Jura

Styles

Natural factors

The vineyard extends over a discontinuous belt 80 kilometres long and 2 to 5 kilometres wide, facing mainly west, at elevations between 300 and 450 metres.
The hills bearing the vines are limestone thrust-sheets torn from the first Jurassic plateau and carried forward along reverse faults during the Alpine uplift.
Limestone, a permeable and soluble rock present throughout the zone, is considered particularly favourable to the vine and to the Jura grape varieties.
The climate is cool oceanic and heavily watered, with annual rainfall exceeding 1,000 millimetres, a marked thermal range around a mean of 10.5 °C, and relatively dry, windy autumns.

Human factors

Poulsard is documented in the Jura as early as 1620, Savagnin from 1717, and Trousseau from 1732, making these three varieties distinctively Jurassian for several centuries.
Vin jaune is aged without topping up for at least six years in oak barrels under a veil of yeast, then bottled in a 62-centilitre flask known as the Clavelin.

Product characteristics

Vin jaune displays a golden-amber colour and develops a characteristic 'goût de jaune' with notes of walnut, apple, candied fruit, and spice, and can be cellared for 50 to 100 years.
Vin de paille develops aromas of candied fruit (orange, honey, or prune) and keeps for approximately a decade.

Terroir / wine link

The marly (clay-limestone) soils covered by thick stony scree promote surface warming and drainage, while depth ensures a continual freshness for the vine.

Facts drawn from the cahier's terroir-link section (Lien au terroir) by automatic interpretation — see the source.