Anyone have experience with Jura Chardonnays?

I’m not super experienced with Jura wines, but I’ve become curious about Chardonnay from there. I have generally not been a huge fan of the few Jura wines I’ve had, with reds being thin and anemic and whites being oxidized and overly funky for my taste. I did have an excellent 50/50 blend of Pinot Noir/Pinot Gris from Ganevat that I loved. But I’ve been reading that some Chardonnays from the Jura resemble the style of white Burgundy and might be a reasonable substitute now that Burgundy prices are solidly in the stratosphere.

Two questions for those in the know. 1- Is there truth to this, that some Jura Chardonnays resemble their more expensive Burgundian cousins? 2- How to choose between them? I understand that may Jura whites are funky oxidized sous-voile wines. Which producers are which? Is there a way to tell from the label? Do you have any specific recommendations. (Sorry, that’s way more than 2 questions)

Thanks, as always, to everyone willing to share their knowledge!

The key word in your search is “ouillé,” I believe.

I haven’t had a Jura Chardonnay that reminds me of white burgundy but that doesn’t mean I haven’t had Ouille Chards from Jura that I love. They aren’t oxidative but they definitely speak of Jura to me.

check out Labet for some affordableish chards in the $40-50 range (i think?).

This.

Jean Rijckaert is another example you could try. Vignes de Voises and Les Sarres are enjoyable and cheaper than Labet if you want to spend less. Be prepared for acidic backbone though especially if they are young.

One more thing: I just realized I have never had an older Jura Chardonnay (12 years+). Maybe the resemblance to some Burgs appears with time? Anybody with old ouillé Jura Chard experience?

We sell Alice Bouvot’s Pamina and P’tit Poussot, I love them both, they are not oxidised, nor are they really like Burgundies, I think the main differences are that new oak is rarer in the Jura and that the grapes do not get as ripe.

The good thing is that if you ever mix up Voile and Ouillé someone here will point it out for you. :wink:

I wonder if P’tit Poussot even counts as Ouillé since I am not sure it ever sees oak - only fibreglass - I should check.

Well, for the most part, the Chardonnays that aren’t oxidative are often called Burgundian just because they aren’t oxidative. Like Charlie said, the non-oxidative Chardonnays speak of Jura to me as well. I guess most if not all non-oxidative Jura Chardonnays wouldn’t fool Burgundy fans into thinking that they are Burgundy and Jura fans would probably very easily pick out those wines as Jura Chardonnay.

Like Markus said, you could look “ouillé” in the label, but that usually applies to producers that make both oxidative and non-oxidative whites. If a producer makes only one style, they often don’t bother labeling the style, unless perhaps in the back label.

Labet and Ganevat are probably the most famous Jura producers at the moment making non-oxidative (“ouillé”) Chardonnays - and they can get quite expensive. But they are almost always ridiculously good. Both tend to require quite a bit of age too - Ganevat’s style is very lean and the wines can be somewhat reductive in their youth, whereas Labet’s wines are a bit on the oaky side for my preference in their youth.

Some other noteworthy ouillé Jura Chardonnays:
Pignier Percenette
Bornard Melon Le Rouge-queue
Tissot Empreinte
Caveau de Bacchus Melon à Queue Rouge
Champ Divin Cotes du Jura

Marnes Blanches also makes an excellent non-oxidative Chardonnay (added attraction: it’s reasonably priced). Haven’t seen these in a while, but Granges Paquenesses used to make a really good one too, a bit natural-leaning, but well-structured and pure.

This, definitely. A special wine.

Ganevat makes very nice wines, if you can find them at this point.

The only one I can think of that I do think tastes like Burgundy is Domaine du Pelican. I love the regular bottling, especially in cooler years. I tried the 2018 En Barbi recently and really did not enjoy it, so I can’t recommend that one.

Recently had chards from 2009 and 2011 (Ganevat) and not sure I would call them Burgundian, as they still carried their Jurassness. Not to say that they weren’t delightful, though!

I had a non-oxidative Chardonnay from Guillaume d’Angerville’s Domaine du Pelican recently and it was pretty solid. About $50. I prefer Oregon Chardonnay at that price point though.

This is who I was going to mention. This house has a direct connection to Burgundy as it was founded by D’Angerville. I think all of their wines are made in the non-oxidative style. I have not had their Chardonnay but I do like the Savagnin. Vintage dependent as Doug mentions.

A 2017 La Tour de Curon Le Clos from Benedicte & Stephane Tissot was easily the best Jura chardonnay I’ve tried. Probably hard to come by as there are only about 150 cases made a year and priced accordingly.

Hi Doug, could you please expand on your experiences with Pelican?

Sure. I’ll talk about Chardonnay since that’s what the thread’s about, other than noting I’ve thoroughly enjoyed several of their other wines as well. I always enjoy the regular Chardonnay bottling a lot. The 2017 was particularly impressive. They’ve got that flintiness that only really good Chardonnay winemakers seem to be able to pull off well, never verging into unpleasant reduction, and with such quality fruit that the other elements shine through really well. The En Barbi 2018 was, in my mind, a mess. I think reduction got out of control and became a problem. If it wasn’t that, I don’t know what gave the unpleasant character, but it was smoky in a way that had nothing to do with oak, and even got into some cabbage and almost skunky aromas. I really disliked it.

Not who you asked, but I would say that the Domaine du Pelican wines “bridge the gap” for me, to an extent, between Burgundy and the Jura. Obviously the Burgundy connection is there, and I think the wines are made a little cleaner and more buttoned-up in style. Their savagnin, for example, still tastes like savagnin, and is delightful in its own right, but it doesn’t have the same wildness, rusticity and raw power that Ganevat’s ouillé savagnins do.

I like this overview of the style.

I recently I acquired a few older bottles (early 2000s) of Jean Bourdy CDJ Blanc as part of a larger wine acquisition. I know next to nothing about these, anyone care to educate me on what I have?

Completely agree…they are one of the most Burgundian like Jura Chardonnay…which is both a good and bad thing (I’m drinking Jura because I want Jura). Someone also mentioned Tissot La Tour de Curon which is also very Burgundian in nature…to me that just generally means significantly less VA, cleaner, a bit more oak, and the fruit profile is slightly different (riper)…