L'ÉTOILE 2025
CHARDONNAY
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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 around 240 hectares of vines producing all the area grapes varieties.
Chardonnay originally comes from Burgundy. Nevertheless, it has been cultivated in the Jura since the 10th century and has become a native of this region. It gives white wines with floral aromas – citrus fruit, peach and white flowers – as well as hints of hazelnut and grilled almonds. It is combined with Savagnin, a typical Jura vine variety that expresses more mineral hints.
L’ÉTOILE AOC has been producing exceptional white wines – including vin jaune and vin de paille – since 1937. The Chardonnay vine variety reigns supreme there, used either alone or in combination with Savagnin.
The name of this AOC is something of a legend. It may refer to the presence of numerous small star-shaped fossils called pentacrines, which are a distinctive feature of its terroir. It may also refer to the star shape formed by the five hills surrounding the village.
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 Chardonnay 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 2025 vintage will be remembered as a year marked by earliness and quality in the Jura vineyard. The first grapes were harvested at the Domaine for Crémant as early as August 19. Still wines followed in early September, with a staggered harvest schedule running through September 15 depending on grape varieties and parcels.
Flowering proceeded smoothly overall, and the grape clusters showed excellent sanitary conditions. Chardonnay and Savagnin display outstanding potential, while red varieties such as Poulsard and Trousseau came through the early-summer heatwaves without difficulty. The vineyard experienced a few very localized hail events in July, but the overall harvest remains highly promising.
Thanks to its earliness, the vintage shows great promise, with well-balanced sugar levels and acidity. Managing harvest dates was a key challenge and made it possible to bring in the full diversity of Jura varieties at their optimal potential.
Harvesting concluded on September 15, and the 2025 vintage may well leave a lasting impression.
Flowering proceeded smoothly overall, and the grape clusters showed excellent sanitary conditions. Chardonnay and Savagnin display outstanding potential, while red varieties such as Poulsard and Trousseau came through the early-summer heatwaves without difficulty. The vineyard experienced a few very localized hail events in July, but the overall harvest remains highly promising.
Thanks to its earliness, the vintage shows great promise, with well-balanced sugar levels and acidity. Managing harvest dates was a key challenge and made it possible to bring in the full diversity of Jura varieties at their optimal potential.
Harvesting concluded on September 15, and the 2025 vintage may well leave a lasting impression.
