Maybe it’s just a matter of taste. I find the fruit tones a bit baked—stewed plums—though the wine, objectively speaking, doesn’t have any faults. Maybe I should open another bottle and see how it’s doing.
William, I like Tvrtko’s answer to you here. I would say, if you haven’t had an Overnoy poulsard before, that yes, you should try it for the going price. Would I pay that? No, because that’s not the ballpark I play in. My sole bottle I bought for around $50. But I think it represents Jura poulsard at it’s best. Value is always subjective but with all the government stimulus checks afloat, might not be a bad time to allocate some of that to wine instead of another new vinyl window for the house.
overnoy’s poulsard is probably the most over hyped wine there is. i would struggle to pay even $50 for a bottle given the wild inconsistencies i have experienced. there is something seriously flawed with the 2015; it was rust water each of the three times i had a bottle, one of which was from the later released second bottling. i would take a labet en billat any day. as for the whites, i agree with william that ganevat’s les vignes de mon pere is far more interesting than any overnoy v.s.o i have had. zachy’s closed out the 03 mon pere for $69. hard to get a better wine at that price.
03 Vignes de Mon Père tastes, frankly, the way Montrachet ought to taste but very seldom does, and I don’t think it has any competition for the best white wine made in France in 2003. If it does, I would like to taste it!
So I couldn’t find the 2009, and I think I may have given my last bottle to a friend who never had Aviet, but I opened the 2017 tonight with a blanquette de veau. It’s very pretty, with ripe but tangy red fruit tones in the plum-pomegranate register, melting tannins, and a touch of reduction (foudre aged, with perceptible residual CO2, so not surprising), but a very sumptuous, enveloping profile. Given the light reduction I wonder if I was harsh on the 2009 the last time I had it, or just not in the right mood / frame of reference… But I guess I will never know, unless I find more bottles somewhere in the cellar or they’re still for sale next time I visit the domaine (it’s quite an experience, including lingerie-clad mannequins [but not in a Jean-Charles Boisset sort of way] and a wood burning stove in the middle of the winery).
I totally understand that argument, but I would be tempted to say that, if you go down the wine rabbit hole, and get to know other wine lovers, someone who bought it for a sensible price will open a bottle for you sooner or later; and that will be more in the spirit of what Pierre Overnoy and Emmanuel intended than paying 500 USD to gougers. Or, frankly, when Covid is in the rearview mirror, why not travel to France and drink it in the Jura for 50 EUR a pop off restaurant lists. Each bottle you open, you’re saving 450 or so USD, so the flight will soon pay for itself if you drink enough
Old Poulsard from Overnoy can be mind bendingly good. Had the '99 a couple of times last year and it’s probably the best thing I drank that year (and I am fortunate enough to get to drink a lot of great wines). 2004, 2005, 2009 and 2010 also very very good, though they do need time to open up (start a bit rustic/“meh”, and then blossom into lace-like nectars). The whites I like but not anywhere near current market values.
If/when you find any at that price in a French restaurant list these days. Given the stress that their always loyal customers had imposed, their wines are pretty much allocated or more appropriately, rationed, to French restaurants, even in Arbois/Pupillin … just what I heard from Mrs. Houillon.
I couldn’t agree more. I like the wines, have enjoyed drinking them many times at restaurants not too long ago for around $100. Not a $500 bottle of wine for me!
Not sure why a $300-500 price tag on a run of the mill Cab would make the Overnoy worth it? That just seems justifying insanity by pointing out worse insanity.
The reference point I get, and I am not trying to argue the price or worthiness. Just noting that I often see ludicrous wine pricing($300-500 cab) as justification for another wine to command overly high prices.
Overnoy has been on my list of wines to try ever since Fu listed them as the benchmark for natural wines, and at $500/bottle it will probably stay on the list of wines I would like to try. But if they’re the Benchmark for Jura and natural wines, it’s not surprising that this would happen.
That said, suddenly Clos Rougeard at $250-300 looks great!
So many ways of putting a fine point on it, but, at the end of the day, if you ask me, it boils down to this: are you a billionaire with a passion bordering on obsession for Jura wines, Poulsard, natural wine etc. or simply someone with enough cash to spare and hoping to be able to flip it at three or four times the buying price now some years down the road? Yes? OK, sure… go for Overnoy at 500+, or whatever price for that matter, but at least try to make sure you get something from the '90s or '00s. Perhaps you’ll find what you’re looking for. Anyone other than that… just move on. Plenty of fish in the sea.
(Mutatis mutandis, this goes for any wine I’ve ever had. Very subjective, but for me it really is a matter of broader perspective, and not even necessarily in a monetary sense ).
I have a friend who thinks that the Chardonnay is the longest-lived wine from this domaine, and I can’t say he’s wrong. But the Poulsard can also last 20+. That said, each of these should be drinking pretty well now, so if you have multiple bottles, I suggesting finding a time to open one of each this year to assess for yourself. Both can probably use some decanting, especially the Poulsard, which can be spritzy from CO2, but nothing excessively long. Say an hour or so.
I completely agree with William on the spirit of the wines. Pierre Overnoy and Manu Houillon are humble, unpretentious farmers. They’re not asking for $500 a bottle, and would probably be embarrassed to do so. As I see it, those of us fortunate enough to have some bottles have an obligation to share them. There’s a wine and bottle shop near my house, Ordinaire, that handles these bottles in a way I appreciate. When they get any, it’s just a bottle or two. Rather than sell them for as much as they can, or pass them along as a carrot to their heaviest customers, they instead open the bottles and sell glasses so more folks can try them. (This is a rarity, though. Everyone shouldn’t flock to Ordinaire expecting to drink Overnoy by the glass. If you’re in the area and appreciate natural wine, you should visit anyway.)
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