TN: 2005 Jean-François Ganevat Côtes du Jura La cuvée du pépé

  • 2005 Jean-François Ganevat Côtes du Jura La cuvée du pépé - France, Jura, Côtes du Jura (11/20/2021)
    Our local cheesemonger had just cracked open a large wheel of Marcel Petite 24 mois (which is probably the best cheese I’ve ever had). It seemed natural to open a special Jura to go with it. This is the sort of wine that is both oxidative and reductive at the same time. An absolutely intriguing wine, with intense nutty, savoury, briny notes the way sherry can develop. There’s a subtle brown spice component to this as well. It’s an opulent wine on the palate with incredible breadth. Complex flavours that are on brown side, with that expected yeasty, sous voile note as well as a high-aldehyde profile on the palate. Beautiful wine though; it just gets more intense and aromatic with air as well. Definitely challenging, but for my taste these days, something I find very, very compelling. (By the way, the cheese pairing is out of this world good.) (93 pts.)

I’ve had the 2008 once and it’s easily one of the best Ganevat wines I’ve ever tasted, right behind Les Vignes de Mon Pere. An absolutely magical wine.

That’s one of my current white whales; not exactly the easiest to find at a non-extortionate price alas. If I have my facts straight, the “mon pere” is a similar sous voile wine but with savagnin instead, right?

No, it isn’t a sous voile wine. La Cuvé du Pépé is basically a Vin Jaune in every respect, except for being a Chardonnay, not a Savagnin. Basically La Cuvée du Pépé’s Savagnin counterpart is Ganevat Vin Jaune.

Mon Pére is an ouille Savagnin from a specific 90-yo plot that has been aged for approximately 10 years in oak barrels before bottling (depending on the release; I think there are always a few barrels of the stuff for any vintage and J-F decides when the wine is released, so there might be different bottling dates - and even years - for one single vintage). Although the barrels are kept filled (and thus no voile forms), the wine gets slightly oxidative overtones due to its prolonged élevage.

A Comté, how apropos. And somehow I forgot about the Pepe. Ganevat’s wines can be truly intriguing.

i had this wine when it was first released and it was pretty wild and all over the place. reminded me a bit of clos de monsieur noly by valette.

I had a bottle as well at release.

Drank a glass and gave the rest of the bottle away to the staff.
Too full throttle and oxidative for me.

Anyone able to say how this differs from Devioles? Apart from a different plot.

What? Only a 93 pointer??? [popcorn.gif]

I was expecting a skunked wine.

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