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Jean-François Ganevat, “J’en Veux Encore!!!”
Over the past several months, we’ve launched two rare offers from natural wine megastar Jean-François Ganevat and, both times, our meager allocations were inhaled in one breath. We’ve subsequently spent our waking hours reading countless email requests for more, so it’s extremely fitting that our last batch of Ganevat is a veritable encore. Literally translated to “I want more,” today’s “J’en Veux Encore!!!” is a breathtaking, spun-from-nature Pinot blend hailing from gnarled 70+-year-old vines. It’s also 100% organic and handcrafted without any additives or sulfur, making it a paragon of purity and authenticity.
A 14th-generation Jura winegrower, Jean-François fanatically farms a small number of hectares and controls the micro-production of over 40 cuvées. No matter the year or wine, each bottle is crafted with painstaking detail and made 100% naturally—no chemicals, no additives, no sulfur. Obviously, Ganevat has earned a massive cult following in the buzzing world of natural wine, so tiny allocations, fierce jockeying, and exhausting searches are now the norm—especially today’s rarefied blend of Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris. It pours a mysteriously hazy ruby core, sends a supernatural jolt of energy through your body, and delivers a hypnotic, thirst-quenching finish. This is the allure of Ganevat, and there’s nothing else like it.
A 14th-generation Jura winegrower, Jean-François fanatically farms a small number of hectares and controls the micro-production of over 40 cuvées. No matter the year or wine, each bottle is crafted with painstaking detail and made 100% naturally—no chemicals, no additives, no sulfur. Obviously, Ganevat has earned a massive cult following in the buzzing world of natural wine, so tiny allocations, fierce jockeying, and exhausting searches are now the norm—especially today’s rarefied blend of Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris. It pours a mysteriously hazy ruby core, sends a supernatural jolt of energy through your body, and delivers a hypnotic, thirst-quenching finish. This is the allure of Ganevat, and there’s nothing else like it.
Jean-François—colloquially known as “Fanfan”—started his humble career alongside his father in the 1980s. With nearly 400 years of continuous family history here, he was next in line to the winemaking throne, but even that couldn’t stop him from succumbing to the magnetic allure of neighboring Burgundy (only an hour’s drive). So, in 1989, he packed up and went to work for the legendary Domaine Jean-Marc Morey. For nine years, he resided in their cellar, learning the invaluable nuances of Burgundian winemaking, which then inspired him to return to Jura and continue his family’s time-honored tradition.
What he brought back wasn’t just Burgundian techniques (e.g. topping off the wines to avoid excess oxidation), but a fanatical devotion to biodynamic farming and the craftsmanship of individually unique, wholly expressive natural wines. And he crafts lots of them: In any given year, the number of cuvées can surpass 40—which is insane, by the way. With each distinct wine comes a distinct upbringing that is tweaked depending on the terroir, the blend, the age of vines, etc. Essentially, he factors in all influential aspects and accordingly devises a unique upbringing for each cuvée, as if it’s an independent entity. And somehow, despite the maze of cellars and various aging vessels—it’s a veritable mad scientist lab—every idiosyncratic natural wine produced here is an exquisite, utterly flawless masterpiece.
After manually selecting ancient Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris vines from select Jura vineyards, Ganevat carefully shuttled the crop up to his home base in the southern hamlet of Rotalier. After a five-week semi-carbonic vinification, the resulting wine continued aging in tronconic wooden vats for just under one year. It was bottled unfined, unfiltered, and without any sulfur. I think Ganevat’s most impressive feat is his ability to consistently avoid every single natural winemaking fault: Throughout the decades, his wines have always exuded harmony, cleanliness, and purity. You’ll never find anything “fuzzy” or “mousy” in his wines—he’s just too skilled to fall victim to that. As previously noted, the wine pours a hazy bright ruby and gives off the slightest carbonated prickle that can be disposed of with a quick 30-minute decant. The nose reveals highly energetic, supremely fresh notes of crushed raspberry, red cherries, watermelon candy, and wild strawberry that are fortified by savory herbs, crushed gravel, undergrowth, sweetbriar, damp violets, and blood orange. The palate is medium-bodied, lively, and shockingly refreshing. It vibrates with juicy red fruits and crushed-rock minerality, meaning a glass disappears incredibly quick and, paradoxically, a bottle goes even quicker—load up!
