2022 Michel Gahier Arbois Chardonnay Les Follasses
WINEMAKER: Michel Gahier
REGION: Jura, FR
VARIETY: Chardonnay
VITICULTURE: Organic
"The Les Follasses vineyard is planted in two different directions. Michel refers to them as Les Follasses A and Les Follasses B. Sometimes he makes one wine and sometimes he keeps them separate. The lot number is the clue. Follasses A, which is white marl, runs from west to east. Les Follasses B runs at right angles to the other vines, from north to south and has much more red marl mixed with white marl. This wine is from Follasses B. The vines in Les Follasses are just over 45 years old. The wine is all about mineral salinity, which is a little more intense when it comes from Follasses B. It is topped up during its aging." - Living Wines
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.