1. Home
  2. Our wines
  3. Grandes Parcelles
  4. ARBOIS SAVAGNIN VIGNES DE SORBIEF

ARBOIS SAVAGNIN VIGNES DE SORBIEF 2018

Grandes Parcelles

click on one of the vintages below for further information
2022  
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.

Typical of the Jura region, the Savagnin is a demanding and patient grape, very often associated with oxidative ageing under a film of yeast known as the “voile”, or veil. But its less well-known mineral facet has to be discovered: in fact, in topped-up barrels, it displays mineral notes of lemon and white flowers.

- A clear and brilliant green gold colour.
- A surprising nose revealing both fruit and mineral notes.
- In the mouth, the Savagnin expresses itself wonderfully on this unique terroir combined with the ageing in oak barrels, offering a powerful wine with nice substance, mineral notes of lemon, white flowers aromas and a very pleasant finish. 

Serve slightly fresh between 12° and 14°C (53-57°F) with cold or warm appetizers, fine fish, grilled or in sauce, shellfish and crustaceans, white meats such as veal or poultry, and local cheese such as the local Comté, Morbier or Swiss cheese.

12 to 14°C (53-57°F).

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.

The Arbois AOC is the oldest and largest of the Jura's four geographic AOCs. In particular, it was France's first AOC (created in 1937).  

Its name originates in the Celtic words "ar" and "bois" that would mean "fertile land".
The “Sorbief” parcel is locally known as one of the best terroirs in Arbois. It is at least the treasure of the estate’s vineyards where the Savagnin grape variety has been cultivated for generations. 

Particularly adapted to this late and demanding grape variety, the plot called “La Barodotte” is located in the west of the Domaine and to the southwest of the Arbois village on a lovely hill overlooking the famous “Route des vins du Jura” (the Jura wine road) RN 83:

- Surface: 1,5 Ha.
- Full South exposure.
- Average age of vines :  37 years (1987).
- Triassic marls sols.

The work in the vines, is based on the respect of the nature and the soil. We 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 vigour and yield.

The Guyot double size is necessary to better control the vine performance.

Reception of the grapes, harvested manually, sorting and vatting by gravity into a thermo-regulated tank for the fermentation.

Once the grapes are pressed, the musts are settling under control temperature.

Then the wine is placed into oak barrels (with 30% of new oak) for the fermentation and a 9 months ageing period on fine lees, to expand its aromatic palette.

It is a "naturé" Savagnin, a term used when aging wines while protecting them from contact with air, by filling them up as the level drops due to natural evaporation.

Bottling in June with a light filtration.

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.