2014 Domaine de la Touraize Arbois Vin Jaune

VARIETAL: Savagnin
REGION: Jura, FR
VITICULTURE: Organic
WINEMAKER: André-Jean Morin

Savagnin grown on blue marl, from a lieu-dit called Petit Curolet. The vines are 10- 30 years old. Vinified in tank, and then transferred to 228L barrels, where it is aged in an attic under flor for 70 months, and never topped up. Nice golden colour, transparent, clear. Smells of dried fruits - raisins, apricots, dark rye crust, salt/brine. Lightly toasted nuts. The oxidation is gentle and not overpowering. To taste it is super complex, vibrant and bright. Lots of lifted dried fruits, peach skin, salty tang and hints of salted caramel. Citrus spray, cumquat. Very dry and linear, and the acidity is high, and very long. Mouth-watering to drink, with lots to contemplate. Again, it shows finesse rather than brawn. Similar to the 2011. Lots of restraint. Super tangy and salty, with Christmas cake and mixed nut flavours. Good tension too. No sense of alcohol whatsoever, expertly integrated. An excellent expression, especially for first timers.

André-Jean Morin only started making his own wines in 2010. However, his family have been growing grapes in Arbois for 8 generations, since 1704! Previously, he had sold his grapes to a cooperative, in the same way that his father and grandfather had, but in 2009 he decided it was time to start making wine himself. He sold a few hectares to make enough money to build a winery, and has been progressing ever since. In 2016, his wonderful wife Héléana left her nursing job to join him and work full time at the domaine as well.

Since 2010, A-J and Héléana have slowly converted all the vineyards to organic (completed in 2017, and they will obtain certification in 2019), and in Autumn of 2017, they also began experimenting with biodynamics, and are now currently in conversion as well. In the cellar A-J works with indigenous yeasts and without additives - with the exception of a small amount of sulfites. Élevage is either in stainless steel, old barriques of various sizes, or extremely old large Alsatian foudre (some over 100 years old). A-J is meticulously clean in the cellar, and this shows in the wines – they are of extremely high calibre, faultless, and can stay open for days without any issue. They are pure wines that truly express their terroir, and for me are some of the best wines coming out of the Jura.