2016 Michel Gahier Arbois Melon La Fauquette

WINEMAKER: Michel Gahier
REGION: Jura, FR
VARIETAL: Melon à Queue Rouge
VITICULTURE: Organic

This is one of our favourite Jura wines. The grapes are sourced from the La Fauquette vineyard close to Michel’s house. This is a ‘sous voile’ wine made from the mutant grape found only in the Jura called Melon le Queue Rouge. As the name implies, this grape variety is distinctive because the grape has a “red tail”. It is likely that this variety is a mutant of Chardonnay and is much beloved by Jura producers despite the difficulty in tending the vines. The barrel in which it matures is not topped up as with the other two white cuvées. Instead, as the wine evaporates through the pores of the barrel a thin veil (voile) of yeast forms on the surface of the wine and this protects the wine from excessive oxidation. The oxygen that does penetrate the veil causes it to develop an exciting nutty spiciness that is incredibly appealing.

This wine is now 6 years old but is still as fresh as the day it was bottled and will last for many years to come despite having had no sulphites added at any time. It is drinking beautifully now despite the 13.5% alcohol which is not at all evident.

Michel Gahier lives in the centre of the village of Montigny-les-Arsures which lies near the central town of Arbois. The reason this is significant is that Montigny is regarded as the finest terroir for the Trousseau grape in the Jura. When we first tasted his wines we were very excited by their purity and their minerality. Michel is a quiet but talented vigneron who tends his vines meticulously and watches carefully over his wines as they are maturing. He likes to make his wine using the traditional techniques of the Jura. Michel tends 6 hectares of vines of which 3 hectares are given over to Trousseau and the remainder is split between Chardonnay and Savagnin.