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CÔTES DU JURA CHARDONNAY 2018

Grand Héritage

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2018   2021  
Several generations have been necessary to patiently built one of the largest and greatest estates in the area, focused on key appellations such as Château-Chalon, l’Étoile and Arbois. The Domaine MAIRE & Fils covers nowadays 234 hectares of vines producing all the area grapes varieties.

Made from 91% Chardonnay grapes blended with 9% of Savagnin matured in oak barrels under the local winemaking "sous voile", this elegant white perfectly embodies the typicality of the Jura grapes and terroirs.

The Chardonnay grape variety, originating from Burgundy but cultivated in the Jura since the 10th Century, has become a native of the region. Its great adaptability makes it the most prominent grape variety today, especially on limestone and light soils.

The Savagnin is typical to the Jura and flourishes on its grey marls, maturing slowly. Patient and demanding, it is the ideal grape variety for an oxydative maturing process, referred to as "sous voile". It creates white wines that are powerful with complex aromas: fresh butter, undergrowth, almonds, nuts, and spices...

This cuvee HERITAGE offers a typical Chardonnay from the Jura delicately blending the elegance and the finesse of the grape combined with withe flowers and white fruits aromas, delicate woody notes, subtle oxidative notes and a beautiful structure in the mouth.

Serve slightly fresh between 12° and 14°C (53-57°F) with cheese gougers or tart, a poultry or river fish in cream sauce, delicatessen, fish and chips, crayfish and Swiss or local cheese such as Comté.

4 to 6 years.

The Jura wine region is small in size but large in its remarkable diversity. It covers 80 kilometres between Burgundy and Switzerland, in the eastern France. Created in 1937, the AOC (designation of origin) of Cotes du Jura is omnipresent in the north and south of the vineyard, on varied and contrasting terroirs. It is the second leading AOC in Jura in terms of production, and it engages all five of the Jura's grape varieties.

The whole range of wines of the Jura is represented, although the whites dominate - still or sparkling - with wines that are round, fruity, and generous.

In order to develop a harmonious cuvée, our Côtes du Jura comes from a selection of our best plots.

The work in the vines, is based on the respect of the nature and the soil. For young vines, located on steep slopes, to avoid erosion, we cultivate a row out of two, practice soil reassembly to aerate the lands subjected to settlement due to moisture, and grass with plants. Such as clover, which, by competing on the vine, can modulate its mineral and water supply and control its vigor and yield.

 

The Guyot double size is necessary to better control its performance. The restructuring of the vines contributes to the harmony of our cuvée: the young vines bring the exuberance, the freshness and the acidity. While the older specimens bring the structure and character.

Reception of the grapes, vatting by gravity into a thermo-regulated tank for the fermentation. They are pressed, and musts are settling under control temperature. Then engages the fermentation maintained at low temperature (20- 22°C).

The Chardonnay was then aged in stainless steel tanks, for 8 months to aid the preservation of the wine's minerality and fruit and then blended with a part (around 9%) of Savagnin matured in oak barrel without topping up (the local winemaking technique called “sous voile”, under veil) to bring the typical Jura notes, “patina” style and structure.  

2018: An exceptional vintage!

There are vintages that make a mark on a whole region, and the 2018 will no doubt be one of these. Harvesting began on 20 August with the Crémants. They lasted for a month and the weather was perfect and quality exceptional. The grapes were in perfect health and had reached optimum ripeness.

The end of the winter was very cold with intense episodes of frost, which prolonged the dormancy of the vines. Bud-burst was later than usual but there were no spring frosts. The spring was very hot, with rain and frequent storms. There was even some hail, but fortunately, the estate’s vines were spared.

Summer was hot and dry, as it was across France, even on the vine-growing plateaus of the Jura, which are usually cooler.

Conditions were perfect for sunny harvesting. Apart from the Savagnin varietal, which is more sensitive, and suffered a little from the intense heat, the harvest was abundant and very high in quality.