Macvin du Jura

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The production zone lies within the natural region of the Revermont, bounded to the east by the first limestone plateau of the Jura massif at an average elevation of 550 metres, and to the west by the plain bordering the Bresse graben.
• This relief forms a strip 80 kilometres long and a few kilometres wide, oriented broadly westward and running from north to south through the Jura department.
• The delimited parcels extend mainly across the south- and west-facing slopes of the escarpment and the foothill ridges, with gradients that can reach 45%.
• The soils are generally clay-limestone, covered by a variable depth of scree, and are described as fairly heavy, with the surface scree layer promoting drainage.
• The climate is a cool, heavily rain-fed oceanic climate with continental influences, a high annual temperature range around a mean of 10.5 °C, a warm and humid summer, and annual precipitation exceeding 1,000 millimetres spread fairly evenly throughout the year.
• Autumns are relatively dry and windy in the geographical production zone.

• Macvin du Jura is a liqueur wine obtained by blending approximately two-thirds fresh grape must with one-third marc spirit aged for at least 14 months in wood.
• The controlled designation of origin Macvin du Jura was recognised in 1991, after the producers of the Jura had campaigned for many years to secure recognition of the distinctive character of this historic production.
• The distillation of marc is traditional in the Jura and is carried out using particular pot stills composed of a closed cylinder filled with Raschig rings, which allow no rectification adjustment.
• Over successive generations, producers have selected three grape varieties typical of the Jura — Savagnin, Poulsard, and Trousseau — as well as two varieties originating from the neighbouring Burgundy vineyard, Chardonnay and Pinot noir.

• Macvin du Jura naturally displays an amber colour, which may be tinged with pink or red hues depending on the grape varieties from which it is made.
• On the nose, marc aromas are present but restrained, while aromas of orange peel and quince, candied fruit, prune, and dried raisins often predominate.
• On the palate, it shows considerable richness and presence, good length, and a fine balance between sweetness and alcohol, with a prevailing unctuous texture.

• The aspect, combined with the slope of the parcels, promotes optimal sunshine exposure, particularly in autumn before harvest.
• Fortification with a wood-aged marc spirit gives the liqueur wine a particular character in which the aromas of fresh grape must marry with those of a mellowed spirit.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in France

Sources

• Product specification (BO Agri, PDF)
• Official INAO text (show_texte)
• INAO product entry
• Official trade body site — CIVJ — Comité Interprofessionnel des Vins du Jura