Chardonnay is what is done to it, or isn't done to it, goes the winemakers mantra. Probably the most malleable and chameleon of all grapes, Chardonnay in Jura is a most extraordinary fish. If Alsatian blanc is the Trickster with residual sugar up its sleeve, Chardonnay in Jura is a portal into a Hall of Mirrors.
From Arbois AC, this Pamina Chardonnay 2010 from Domaine de l'Octavin is a) Demeter certified b) unfined and unfiltered d) from the 'La Mailloche' lieu dit d) a match to the most challenging cuisine e) a nod to the lovers Pamina and Tamino who hail from Mozart's rationalist enlightenment opera 'The Magic Flute' f) vinified whole-cluster, macerating on the skins for 3 months, racked and aged for 2 years in 1-4 year-old barrels.
In appearance the wine is opaque and dull (such a negative and prejudicial word), with a fine sediment. The nose reveals oxidative winemaking with apples, fresh shelled nuts and baked bread. The palate cartwheels with boldness and assertion, apple strudel, quince and a citrus tang with stoney minerality and a medium+ acidity, the nutty tone of fresh shelled almonds and hazelnuts, the wine threads a fine length of fresh baked bread and cream crackers with a finish until tomorrow.
Such classicism is a silent whisper to those who fashion their Chardonnay with healthy dollops of new oak. Such regionality is a calling card of distinction.
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