In the Jura region, Pinot Noir is often blended with other varieties, for its flavours and cellaring potential. But it also offers great wines when used as a single variety!
Planted since the 15th century in the Jura, on gravely soils, it is often the first variety to ripen in the area offering wines with a bright colour and notes of wild mushrooms, cherries and wild berries.
CÔTES DU JURA PINOT NOIR 2018
click on one of the vintages below for further information
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.
A beautiful, limpid dress with a very intense ruby colour.
The nose is pleasant, straight and fine, with delicate small wild berries notes.
In the mouth, it is a round, supple, velvety and greedy wine with light rounded tannins and a very present fruit.
Serve at a temperature of 14°C to 15°C (57°-59°F) and enjoy with grilled or roasted meats, cooked dishes such as coq au vin or boeuf bourguignon, but also Italian pasta.
Will also perfectly accompany a beautiful plate of cheese and delicatessen.
5 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 for the Pinot Noir 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.
The Pinot Noir grapes were handpicked and sorted on sorting table at their arrival at the winery. Then they were put in thermos-regulated stainless steel tank for a total maceration of 12 days, followed regularly throughout the fermentation with occasional pumping and stirring.
Then the press and drop juices were assembled and withdrawn for malolactic fermentation on fine lies.
100% of the cuvée was then placed into oak barrels (including 20% new oak barrels) for an 8 months ageing period allowing to enlarge the aromatic palette.
Bottling in June with a light filtration.
The « Grand Minéral » Collection
Convinced of the unique Jura terroir’s potential, we have identified in the last years specific plots where vines were re-planted. Besides the traditional Jura appellations, we particularly concentrate ourselves in making wines of great freshness, with an airy, elegant and fruity character.
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.