The Review - FOOD & DRINK - THE WINE PRESS Published:20 September 2007
Jura wine stocks, which will be made available to British drinkers
Picture: S Godin/CDT Jura
Different glass! Brits are yet to taste alternatives
Independent producers are taking on the large wine companies and co-operatives that have restricted the range of bottles we get access to
LLOYD Blake, the founder of Jura wines, is one of a growing number of small-scale producers and retail companies who are attempting to genuinely widen the range of individualistic wines available in the UK. He began selling organic wines from the Jura region earlier this year. The Jura, a French region with its own ancient wine-making traditions, is the largest of several small Alpine vine areas that hug the foot of the Alps and stretch along the eastern part of France, running into Switzerland and Italy. In 1936 it became France’s first appellation wine area.
Lying south of Alsace and east of Burgundy, it has a gastronomic culture similar to the latter and produces wines to go with every stage of a meal from the aperitif to the digestive.
Increasingly, it is adopting the Burgundy grape varieties, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, often blended with local grapes. But the undoubted stars of the region are the traditional local white Savagnin and the dark-skinned Poulsard and Trousseau grapes.
Historically, local co-operatives and one enormous merchant company, Henri Maire, have dominated wine production. Recent years have seen the emergence of a growing band of independent producers. It is these who have attracted the attention of adventurous wine drinkers in the US and even China. But so far the more conservative UK market has yet to discover these wines.
Much of the wine produced is unknown outside the immediate area and is intended for consumption by local residents and the tourists who flock to the Alpine skiing resorts.
The Vin Jaune, (Yellow Wine) has been a big hit outside the region since the Middle Ages. Made mainly from low-yielding Savagnin grapes, often picked as late as December. The wine is left in open-topped oak casks for a minimum of six years and three months. The technique of production and the taste are similar to a fino sherry. The result is a unique wine that is recognised as one of France’s greatest.
The Champagne alternative Crement du Jura, produced in the region for over 200 years but only given a legally controlled status in 1995, has proved to be another winner throughout France and aboard.
Macvin Du Jura, a liqueur wine made from red and white wine to which is added marc brandy, is also gaining devoteees.
A range of white and red wines is produced. The white Savagnin grape produces distinctive spicy wines with honey aromas. The reds, which tend to be ruby coloured, offer unusual flavours, conveying an impression of cherries and blackcurrant and – we thought – a blast of aniseed. Other tasters detected “animal elements”.
The addition of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in some of the blends can make the taste more accessible, but these wines are unique and very different to most of the wines on sale in London.
Jura sell a range of 17 wines including several Eau de Vie. All are made by Benedicte and Stephane Tissot who produce 28 organic wines from grapes grown on their 70-acre Jura vineyard. They say their wines are natural, organically produced and express the personality of the land. Prices range from around £12 to £35.
Jura Wines only sell through the internet, but are in the process of opening a café-style shop in London. Also on the net is Berry Brothers and Rudd, a 300-year-old wine business with a shop in St James Street, SW1. They stock two Jura wines.
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