TN: 2005 Overnoy Arbois-Pupillin

2005 Overnoy Arbois-Pupillin
Been looking forward to this since the enticing description provided at the Parisian caviste. Last evening’s multi-course dinner (Talula’s)offered some great pairing opportunities. Light, almost rose color. Musty to start. The moldy edges faded to reveal disarming charm. Complex earth, sousbois, soft red fruit, citrus peel and a bit of cinnamon peaking out of from the baking spice undercurrent. Long wonderful and somehow nearly weightless balance. Want to taste transparency? Can a country girl be a femme fatale? I’m infatuated.

RT

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great description of the poulsard grape(if i’m correct). overnoy can’t be beat - thanks

Enjoy it, there’s not much around.
Best, Jim

I’ve been looking for months to find an Overnoy – if anyone knows of a source, a pm would be most appreciated.

Truly wish I could help Barry. My wife was just back in Paris and the store was “out”.

RT

Archive dredge.

Today’s Chambers St. email has 2 bottles of the 2009 available from a private cellar. $499.99/each. Duh…What!!!

I have 2 bottles of the 2009 in the cellar (not the criquand knock off)…and they were $45 at retail in Paris, maybe 9 years ago, until they were yanked from the shelves for private buyers.

The wines are excellent…but that good? Once something gets a little unicorn-like, watch out for the insanity.

RT

You know I can make the argument that it is worth with. It is a reference point wine for an entire region and I would say the entire natural wine category. And impossible to find. Run of the mill Napa cabs sell for $300-500.

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I would say it’s worth it, especially if you haven’t had it before. Still debating when to open my only bottle…

Is the poulsard generally regarded as superior to the chardonnay or savagnin?

I really don’t think so. I would personally go for the Chardonnay or Savagnin over the Poulsard any day. Poulsard is Poulsard by the end of the day. To me it is the less serious red grape of the three used in Jura. I have tasted both the Chardonnay and Savagnin in the 2011 vintage. Great wines.

Last year I could still find older vintages on a restaurant list in Copenhagen for 150-200$. So 500$ sounds steep.

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The Criquand wines are quite solid in their own right; I recently opened a 2018 Ploussard that cost me in the low $30s. IMHO, it was an excellent wine that was burdened by the Overnoy name that I could never possibly live up to. If the 1993 than I had in 2011 was in any way “typical” for Overnoy, these wines deserve their legendary and “unicorn” status, but the 2018 Overnoy-Criquand Ploussard is not a wine to be dismissed just because the name evokes that of an erstwhile superstar.

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Haven’t revisited since a god-awful mercaptan problem in their 2010 Trousseau. Sounds like they’ve straightened it out.

RT

There is a ton of good Jura wines that can be bought for a lot less.

Labet, Ganevat, Les Dolomies, Domaine des Marnes Blanches, Boulanger & Allante, Francois Rousset-Martin, Tissot, Domaine de la Pinte and Bornard are the ones i have in my cellar. There is still so much good value in Jura.

Want to try a clean affordable expression of Chardonnay from Jura? Try Domaine Marnes Blanches, Chardonnay, En Quatre Vis, 2018. I bought my bottles for 19 euro. It is very good.

Labet and Ganevat can hit the same heights as Overnoy imo.

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I’ve been drinking them for 15 years, back when they would sit on the CSW shelves for $20/bottle and no one wanted to buy them.

Nothing is like Houillon/Overnoy Poulsard. It is the Truchot of the Jura. Going rate these days is $300-$600/bottle, depending on the bottling…Much more for the Vin Jaune and other rarities: a unicorn within a unicorn.

True story: had various folks who are in the biz from NYC at my home (Wheeler, Jamie from CSW, etc) for a alto-Piedmont wine event about a decade ago - think it was something like 36 wines from the 30s/40s/50s/60s…I opened up a bunch of non-thematic wines - including a 2002 Overnoy Poulsard and a 1979 Trollat. As great as old Trollat is - The 2002 Overnoy was - by far - the most complex wine that night…Such a singular expression.

Only have a couple bottles of 2005 Poulsard left - think it was ready to go?

-mark

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To my taste, Domaine Overnoy-Crinquand is about 10% of the wine that Houillon/Overnoy is. -mark

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Mark - I agree with you. I would not pay a ridiculous premium for the whites because although very good I think there are other Jura wines that are close and even better. But the Poulsard is unlike any other. I love the Truchot reference.

At quite a few dinners with vignerons/winemakers, the Overnoy is the first bottle that they reach for.

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Yup ^^^^.

About 6 years ago, I mentioned to a couple of Paris merchants (Bacchus and another in the area) that I will be on my way in few days to Jura with some winery visits, including one at Overnoy-Houillon’s. Both owners asked if I can attempt to get them just a bottle each that they’ll make a very worthwhile trade for when I get back to Paris. Sadly, and I believe it’s the Domaine’s policy, I only got to (thankfully) taste some wines at Pierre’s old house hosted by a very welcoming Anne Houillon, as Emmanuel had to be at a roadshow on that day and Pierre just dropping in to apologetically say hello as he had to cover for Pierre’s chores that day, but no bottles were offered for sale.

In any case, I’m never in the market for any wines in the current O-H price range but have bought them until 2011/12 when CSW offered up to $26 to $28 per and in Caves Auge for 2.5 times with some required hostage bottles. Still holding to 3 remaining bottles.

Last one I opened was the 2009 Savagnin (yellow capsule) in August 2018 but have had smatterings of the producers wines over the years before, including a dinner with a small group of local Overnoy geeks of 15 different bottling from 2000 to 2011. I’m a bigger believer of the whites than the already very good reds, though.

Have had the good fortune of drinking quite a bit of Overnoy though the range and vintages (never tried the grey cap maceration white, though), and still sitting on a bunch of them. Have had mixed success with the non-oxidative whites and find it hard to justify the current prices for those. The vin jaune is very good - but not necessarily better than that of Puffeney or Macle.

The Poulsard is both outstanding and sui generis. Have recently had the 1999 (2x!), 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010 and 2015 vintages thereof. To my taste, the 1999 is one of the best wines I’ve ever had. It’s so finely chiseled, so subtly red-fruited. Contemplative, cerebral and hedonistic all at once. If anyone tell me where I can find a similar Ploussard for less money, then please do so :slight_smile:


ITB (Art & Terroirs)

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I had the chance to taste Ganevat at the domaine; great wines… his “negociant” wines were good; the domaine wines even better. Agree that are a good alternative (I can also recommend Domaine des Bodines; I really enjoyed his 2015 Chardonnay)