JC is back in France! Day 5
A very early start – packing up and driving to the Cote de Nuits for an 8.30am meeting in Morey St Denis before heading for the Jura. Sebastien at Odoul-Coquard met us and took us down to yet another largely empty cellar to taste his 2021 wines. They are very good! The quantity is so tiny that in an Appellation such as Vosne-Romanee Sebastien has made only one barrel (228 litres) out of the usual five! No doubt we will see a price increase from this well valued domaine.
Off we go to the Jura some 1 ½ hours east of Burgundy, and up into the mountains. Jura wines have in the last 8-10 years received a huge interest around the world from both sommeliers and private clients, and the sales figures confirm this. This area has been influenced over the past centuries by Burgundy, Spain and Northern Italy. It also has a mosaic of complex terroir.
We arrived in the Jura a little early, so managed a quick walk around the centre of the lovely town of Arbois (where you will discover the house of chemist Louis Pasteur) , before heading up into the hills to Stephane Tissot – one of the superstars of the region. We met up with a couple of our friends/clients from NZ who had driven over the border that morning from Switzerland. It was a mammoth tasting – broken down into four components over some 3 and a half hours!
- Chardonnay
- Poulsard, Pinot Noir & Trousseau
- Savagnin
- Oxidative wines such as the famous and outstanding Vin Jaune
Afterwards Stephane gave us a delicious and welcome lunch – pate en croute, poulet au vin jaune (chicken, morels and other mushrooms in a creamy sauce finished with a touch of vin jaune), then an aged Comté (their local cheese). What a great way to spend half a day!
An hour or so away, our last meeting of the day took us to Peggy and Jean-Pascal Buronfosse’s tiny domaine – they have about five hectares here, and make very terroir focussed wines (like Stephane Tissot). As in Burgundy, Jura was also hit badly by a late frost, so the 2021 volumes are well down. We had a good time going from one barrel to another with the passionate Peggy (also originally from my home town of St Etienne).
If you’ve not experience Jura wines, you must do it as they have the potential to match so many cuisines and tastes.
For dinner we travelled with our friends to the tiny and very beautiful village of Les Planches – about 15 minutes out of Arbois. We had a delicious dinner washed down with more local wines in an enchanting setting at Castel Damandre (www.casteldamandre.com).
And guess what … another late night!!!
.jpg "2. One of the superstar of the Jura - Stephane Tissot (in the middle)")
1.Sebastien at Domaine Odoul- Coquard. Can you spot the French nose 2.One of the superstar of the Jura - Stephane Tissot (in the middle) 3.The famous poulet au vin Jaune and morilles mushrooms served at Domaine Tissot. Délicieux!
4. More ‘poulet au un vin Jaune et morilles’!! 5.Fondue légère au Comté version Jurassienne. Hard to stand up after that! 6.A huge complicity between husband and wife at Domaine Buronfosse - Peggy and Jean- Pascal
7. Hôtel Castel Damandre in the beautiful village of Les Planches 8.Village of ‘Les Planches’