For those of you who haven’t yet turned on to the wines of France’s Jura region, perhaps the best way to describe it is as Burgundy’s ‘country cousin.’ I visited Jura for the first time a few months ago, and while traveling through its tiny, sparsely populated villages, I felt like I was traveling back in time. This particular wine hails from village/appellation of Arbois (an AOC within the Jura) which is about an hour east of Burgundy’s hub city of Beaune—although, in terms of feel, it’s a lot farther than that.
The Jura, so named for the sub-Alpine Massif du Jura along France’s border with Switzerland, is much more rural and untamed in comparison to the more urbane precincts of Burgundy, and its wines often follow suit. The Jura’s soils, of Jurassic-era limestone, are as close to Burgundy’s as you can get, as are two of its principal grape varieties—Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. This 2011 Pinot Noir from the Jura appellation of Arbois bears the name Benoît Mulin, but there’s another name to know here—that of biodynamic evangelist and international winemaking celebrity Stéphane Tissot. Thanks to a series of fortunate events, Mulin and Tissot came together to create this label, with the help of longtime Tissot assistant winemaker Jérôme Arnoux. They’ve only been at it since 2009, but suffice it to say they hit the ground running: this wine has beautiful depth of fruit mixed of wild berry fruit with a leathery, woodsy savor that is simply irresistible. What a value, too: This is a winery to watch and this 2011 is a silky and seductive introduction; lovers of fine red Burgundy should not pass this up.
Benoît Mulin was born not 30 minutes from Arbois in Besançon, in the heart of the Franche-Comté region near the Swiss border. He wound up going into banking, but developed a keen interest in wine while in business school and fantasized about getting into the business. As fate would have it, his wife, Charlotte, is a close friend of Bénédicte Tissot, Stéphane’s wife and partner, and a new collaboration was spawned: The Tissots, in addition to running their critically acclaimed family domaine, created a négociant business in Arbois whose centerpiece was (and still is) a historic, vaulted cellar in the center of Arbois. Built by France’s Queen Jeanne in 1326, this cellar—La Cave Reine Jeanne—is the spiritual home of the négociant firm, in which Benoît Mulin became a partner in 2009. Working with 25 local growers in and around Arbois, and utilizing the talents of not just Tissot but his longtime right hand, Arnoux, the négociant firm produces a full range of Jura wines under the name Le Cellier des Tiercelines.
Simultaneously, Mulin fulfilled his dream of becoming a vigneron in his own right; he acquired a long-term lease of seven hectares of vineyards in the village of Villette-Les-Arbois in 2013, and has since augmented that with five hectares in Pupillin and a few other small holdings. This wine is sourced from 40-year-old vines within those “estate” vineyards, which sit on near-pure limestone; it was fermented and aged in French oak barrels (about 25% of which were new) for a year before bottling. This wine, it should be noted, has been in temperature-controlled storage at its importer’s warehouse; it’s an added bonus to get some nice bottle age in the mix at this price point! (Note: In more recent vintages, these wines feature Arnoux’s name on the labels; this bottling now carries the name “Révelation”).
In the glass, this 2011 has pale garnet core with slight orange hints at the rim. Not to get too flowery here, but the aromatics are downright transporting: it’s like being in a damp redwood grove, picking wild berries off a bush as scents of humid earth, tree bark, and wild mushrooms mingle with those of the ripe, juicy fruit. This quality carries through onto the medium-bodied palate, which now boasts well-integrated tannins and bright but softened acidity. It finishes on a savory note, showing off a nice crushed-stone minerality and lots of dried-flower aromatics. It’s a great wine to open and enjoy now; it likely has the structure for 5+ more years in a dark cellar, but why wait? Simply pull the cork an hour before serving at 60-65 in Burgundy stems. There’s something ‘autumnal’ about the flavors here that has me thinking not just of Thanksgiving turkey but other game birds with mushrooms and chestnuts and other such components in the stuffing. Check out the attached recipe for a suitably woodsy accompaniment. Cheers!
