In just the last couple weeks, I’ve tried my first bottles of Jura wines (a 2009 Tissot Trousseau Arbois and a 2010 Puffeney Chardonnay Arbois). Both were wonderful, and I hope to make Jura wines a bigger part of my cellar moving forward. That said, I have little frame of reference as to how well they age and at what age they hit their stride. Excluding vin jaune, which I know is supposed to last for eons, what is your experience with the ageworthiness of Jura wines? What qualities can they take on as they age? Just curious to hear from those with more experience as I’m a newcomer to these wines, and there doesn’t seem to be the same body of knowledge on them as there are for more prominent wine growing regions.
You should try some older Jura wines first. They certainly can age forever, but if you find out you prefer them young then there’s no sense in burying them in your cellar.
I don’t know the answer to the question, but I sure would be interested to see what these Puffeney “M” Poulsards taste like after 30 or 40 or 50 years.
They seem like they have the stuffing to last for many, many decades.
I’ve often wondered whether the same is the case for Ganevat. I love their wines, but only tasted them young and can’t help but wonder what their zero SO2 policy will do their ageability. Anyone?
Overnoy ages fine and has no SO2 added, so I can’t see why Ganevat’s shouldn’t do it as well, but I have no experience in aging Ganevat. But in general I think people underestimate the aging potential of the wines from Jura. I spoke to the vigneron Ludwig Bindernagel this summer who thinks that people are drinking Jura wines too young.
When an age chart is marked in decades, it’s difficult to pin down the optimal drinking point. Jean-François Bourdy prefers to see his Ch Chalon consumed with at least 50 years of age.
Well, I had my last bottle of 'o6 Puffeney Pulsard arbois a few weeks ago and I thought it was not nearly as good as remembered the first time. If weak tasting fruit flavored but water-like juice is the goal, then maybe more age is the ticket. I for one would not buy more.
Although I’m not qualified to answer, I wonder if I would be incorrect to say that age ability would not be affected so long as storage conditions, namely temperature, are controlled?
The thing about zero SO2 is that, in my experience at least, there is a much higher chance of different beasts living, thriving, and proliferating in the wine. Everything from brett blooms (common if not expected in Overnoy) to refermentation (yikes!).
In addition, I suspect that the lack of stability would increase the chances of premox–especially when they have traveled from afar.
If I’m in Paris and want a fresh, local, hipster wine, I’m all over it. But I’d be scared as hell to age one (even though I concede there is no doubt some will).
Yup, both the Tissot and Puffeney I referenced in the OP were topped up and not oxidative, but I imagine the acidity could carry them a good while regardless. I’m not sure about the multi-decade spans that folks have suggested, but I obviously have very limited experience. Curious to see when people have found the sweet spot for these non-oxidative styled Juras?
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to go to a decades tasting of Bourdy wines. One wine from each decade of the 20th century. It was a mix of Cotes du Jura red and white and Chateau-Chalon. All the whites were impeccable, including the 1904 Cotes du Jura blanc which is a Chardonnay. The interesting thing for me was that they only use 4.5 ppm of total so2! Normal amounts in conventional domestic wines are 30-200ppm total. The thing that holds these wines together is the acid.