TN's: Vin Jaune

[Michael Malinoski]

A couple of weeks back, Joe and Amy Perry had 5 of us over for a wonderful meal prepared by Joe to accompany some fine bottles of Vin Jaune. I’ve wanted to try these wines from the Jura for some time now and was really excited to have this opportunity to try several of them at once to begin to get a handle on whether I would like their unusual oxidized style. As I hope the notes convey, my reaction was one of intense intellectual intrigue and for the most part fine tasting pleasure.

2005 Domaine de Montbourgeau L’Etoile. Before we went off on the wild side, we started on the mild side. The nose here is a bit quiet, with scents of crisp minerals, limestone chalk, daffodils and only faint oxidative notes. On the palate, it displays a certain lushness down the middle, with crisply-defined edges and an airy sort of after-taste. The fruit is rounded and goes down real easy, with decent length. It is a nice introduction, but in retrospect only hints at the unique nature of the other wines on the table.

2000 Domaine de Montbourgeau L’Etoile Cuvee Speciale. Wow, this ratchets things up several notches in just about every way. The nose features a panoply of wild aromas ranging from oily walnuts and pounded beef jerky to chalky limestone, dried sea salt, mineral spirits and latex. I’m sure this sounds odd but it is actually both entrancingly complex and decidedly inviting. In the mouth, the very first thing that unwaveringly comes to my mind is rich lobster bisque, complete with a dollop of sherry. At times, I am also reminded of thin-sliced roast beef au jus. Obviously, that salty/savory, surf ‘n turf dynamic is a big part of what this wine is about. At the same time, a starburst of acidity lends an absolute electric feel to the wine that simply never wavers. One of the fascinating aspects about the wine is that it almost seems to act like an aerosol spray—with the most intense concentration of flavor coming as the wine evaporates off the tongue after swallowing. It is there that the lovely nutty notes come out most strongly, along with flavors of caramel, marzipan, Montelimar nougat, vanilla bean and peanut brittle. The texture is oily, but the wine is barely medium-bodied. It finishes quite dry, with all that great inner perfume lasting a good long while. Needless to say, I very much dig this wine on a variety of levels.

1998 Jacques Puffeney Arbois Vin Jaune. This Vin Jaune offering is a bit mellower and perhaps more refined on the nose than many of the others this night. It features lots of fresh garden herbs, limestone and warm pecan aromas, along with something reminiscent of a knife-sharpening stone and oil. It really fans out on the palate, touching all the corners of the mouth and delivering its flavors directly and forcefully. It is beautifully layered and open, with less obviously crisp contours than most. It delivers plenty of flavors along the lines of waxy yellow fruit, lime peel, botanical herbs, ash-covered rind and sea salt. It finishes very well-balanced, featuring interesting macadamia and beeswax flavors that linger.

1999 Jacques Puffeney Arbois Vin Jaune. The bouquet on the '99 Puffeney seems to have less of the nutty overtones exhibited by the '98 and instead veers more toward exotic and complex notes of apricot pit, wet chalk dust, lemon/lime zest, black Necco wafer, browning canteloupe rind and old brass. It comes across as generally more concentrated than the '98, with a rich feel up front that turns more restrained through the mid-palate. The flavors are not quite as immediate as the '98, nor do they fan out quite the same way. Instead, it only slowly unfolds and never really shows all it will have to offer in the future. Although it seems creamy, there is a marked tingly feel around the edges of the tongue throughout and there is soft but persistent acidity that is a constant companion. It is certainly more structured than its relatively open-knit older brother and it perhaps exhibits better overall balance. The finish is absolutely mouthwatering, though later in the evening it turns drier. I preferred the '98's more giving nature, but this seems destined to be the longer-lived of the duo.

1999 Frederic Lornet Arbois Vin Jaune. Wow, this opens up as an intense, angry and almost violent wine—sort of burning the nostrils with alcohol paint thinner and glue notes riding atop rotting fruit compost early on. Eventually, though, that all begins to recede, allowing much friendlier aromas like warm caramel, vanilla bean, roasted nuts, juniper berry, rock candy and pineapple rind to filter in. In the mouth, it is thankfully a lot easier to like. The initial attack is rather vibrant and the wine stays exciting throughout. It has fine weight and density married to great verve. Like the ’00 Montbourgeau Cuvee Speciale, I again notice that it delivers much of its most interesting flavors as it evaporates off the tongue on the finish. Flavors of dried pineapple cubes, pink grapefruit, honeyed fig, dark caramel and lemon peel leave a lasting impression.

1997 Château d’Arlay Cotes du Jura Vin Jaune. While I didn’t particularly love the nose of the previous wine, I actually hated the nose of this wine. It smells decidedly medicinal and industrial to me-- with some vinyl paint, car lube, motor oil and plastic aromas that I find truly offensive. It is much cleaner on the palate, where it is rich, round and a bit chewy-textured, but with a nice acidic twang to drive it along. It displays a decidedly more fruit-forward style than the other wines in the line-up. Also, the finish is probably the driest of the set, lending a more austere edge to the back.

1999 Marcel Cabelier Chateau-Chalon. This wine is less obviously oxidized than most and also seems to contain its alcohol content the most easily. It features fine aromas of steeped lemon peel, spun caramel, salty walnuts, brass, wet stones, bitter grapefruit and dried peach pit in perhaps the freshest style of the night. There is a rich vein of salinity running through the palate that makes it very interesting. There is also a nice shot of bright citrus fruit and spiced green apple flavor. Again, it is less obviously oxidized than the other wines, with a spicy, tingly and fresh finish that is layered and wonderfully refreshing. This is a truly great food wine and one of my favorites of the entire tasting.

On the whole, these have to be some of the wildest tasting notes I can ever recall writing. But I have to say that I was totally taken aback by the singular character of these wines and found myself drawn to them in a way I never expected. Now I just have to get my hands on some bottles that have been aged like 40 years to see what THAT fuss is all about…

We ended the evening with some wonderful desserts and Joe hit the wine fridge to pull out this inspired choice:

1997 Huet Vouvray Moelleux 1ere Trie Clos du Bourg. The bouquet here is lovely and welcoming—with aromas of nectarine, cherry pit, quince paste, kiwi and soft graphite that turn just a bit sweeter with air time. In the mouth, it is gently sweet and round-edged, with fine levels of tangy acidity. This is certainly is a wine of fine elegance, balance and restraint. The sugar is “just there” as a well-integrated component. I could really drink a lot of this, but it seems to disappear awfully quick!

-Michael

[Nicklasss]

Thanks for that report Michael.

Personnally I'm a fan of Vin Jaune, for their unique character. But I understand at the same time that they are so different from other wines, that someone can be uninterested.

I brought a Vin Jaune at a BWE offline in 2002, to taste blind, and everybody around the table thought it was a joke or a dead wine. It was a 1983 Chateau-Chalon from Henri Maire. I still have one bottle left in the cellar and I don't know when I'll open it... Maybe I should wait when I'll meet you?

Nic

[Michael Malinoski]

Nic, it's funny but another thing I specifically meant to put in my write-up was that I could see any one of these wines bombing in a random blind tasting! I mean we went out of our way to serve these with appropriate food and we were all at least somewhat prepared for the style. And it still took a while to adjust expectations to what I was experiencing. I am now a fan, but certainly do want to try one with a lot more age. 1983 sure sounds interesting...

-Michael