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Domaine Courbet, Côtes du Jura “Chardonnay de la Vallée”

Jura, France 2018 (750mL)
Regular price$29.00
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Domaine Courbet, Côtes du Jura “Chardonnay de la Vallée”

The modern re-discovery of France’s Jura region started with its oddest offerings (not today’s offer)—tart, oxidative whites called vins jaunes (literally, “yellow wines”), which are aged under “veils” of yeast much like dry Sherries. Unique and delicious as those wines are, however, they’re antiques—whereas today’s wine, from the terrific, family-run Domaine Courbet, is a wholly modern interpretation of the Jura terroir. Anyone who still thinks of Jura Chardonnay as a kind of “country cousin” to white Burgundy need only taste this 2018 “Chardonnay de la Vallée” to realize that the gap has closed.


Wine lovers may have first come to Jura for the weird stuff, but they’ve stayed because of crystalline, Burgundy-adjacent Chardonnays like this (we’ll save the Pinot Noirs for another day). Given that the heart of the Jura is only about an hour east of Beaune, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the Jura’s limestone-rich soil (from the, ahem, Jurassic period) is practically a dead-ringer for Burgundy’s. Add to this a cool, mountain-influenced climate and you’ve got some ideal conditions for racy, aromatic, mineral-laden Chardonnay—conditions so good that even eminent Burgundians like Guillaume d’Angerville have taken notice: He was so moved by a Jura Chardonnay he was served blind in a restaurant he started searching for vineyard land in the region, which he soon found to create his Domaine du Pelican. The Courbet family, meanwhile, has been rooted in the Jura for more than a century, but their wines ooze modern sophistication without losing their sense of place. If “Chardonnay de la Vallée” said “Bourgogne” on the label instead of “Côtes du Jura,” it would undoubtedly cost more, so if you love the former, don’t miss this sensational example of the latter. You’ll be glad you made the trip east—and may just stay a while!



The Courbet family’s home village is Nevy-sur-Seille, right beneath the famed hill of Château-Chalon in the center of the Jura. Founded in 1869, Domaine Courbet is now run by the father and son team of Jean-Marie and Damien Courbet, with Damien taking control in 2011. A long résumé belies his youthful exuberance—stints at California’s Au Bon Climat, Alsace’s Zind-Humbrecht, and Nicolas Potel’s projects in both Burgundy and South Africa are among the highlights.  Having such wide-ranging international experience must only have deepened his appreciation for his home region, which is underpinned by a vein of Jurassic limestone as profound as anything found in Burgundy. 


As Master Sommelier Chris Miller noted in a previous Domaine Courbet offer, this tiny property “was the go-to Jura wine for top wine lists well before the region’s recent renaissance.” Located in a section of the Jura known as the upper Seille, the Courbet domaine’s holdings span 7.5 hectares of vineyards, located on the lower and mid-slopes of the Jura mountains. Farming has been organic and biodynamic since 2005, with official certification expected for the 2019 vintage. Everything is harvested manually, and today’s wine comes from 25- to 30-year-old estate vines arrayed on some of the lower slopes, in soils of deep clay mixed with chunks of limestone. Fermented on native yeasts and aged 10 months in French oak barrels (10% new), it displays the kind of lively energy that only comes from soils that are alive. Do organically farmed wines taste better, you ask? Yes, they do!


Aside from a hint of creaminess and a touch of warm spice from the oak, this wine is all about fresh, layered fruit and deep limestone minerality. It is generously textured and deeply satisfying, shot through with a jangling chord of freshness—in short, delicious Chardonnay that is full of tension. In the glass, it’s a shimmering yellow-gold with flecks of green at the rim, with aromas of bruised yellow apple, pear, and salted lemon complemented by notes of chopped hazelnut, drawn butter, wildflower honey, crushed oyster shells, and wet stones. It drinks beautifully now after a 30-minute decant, so be sure to pull some corks soon and serve in all-purpose white wine stems at 50 degrees. Like all great French Chardonnay, it offers nearly incomparable versatility at the table: chicken, fish, pork…you name it, this wine is ready for it. I look forward to re-visiting this delicious white alongside some wine-poached scallops, especially after happening across the attached recipe. Bring it on! Cheers!

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France

Bourgogne

Beaujolais

Enjoying the greatest wines of Beaujolais starts, as it usually does, with the lay of the land. In Beaujolais, 10 localities have been given their own AOC (Appellation of Controlled Origin) designation. They are: Saint Amour; Juliénas; Chénas; Moulin-à Vent; Fleurie; Chiroubles; Morgon; Régnié; Côte de Brouilly; and Brouilly.

Southwestern France

Bordeaux

Bordeaux surrounds two rivers, the Dordogne and Garonne, which intersect north of the city of Bordeaux to form the Gironde Estuary, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The region is at the 45th parallel (California’s Napa Valley is at the38th), with a mild, Atlantic-influenced climate enabling the maturation of late-ripening varieties.

Central France

Loire Valley

The Loire is France’s longest river (634 miles), originating in the southerly Cévennes Mountains, flowing north towards Paris, then curving westward and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean near Nantes. The Loire and its tributaries cover a huge swath of central France, with most of the wine appellations on an east-west stretch at47 degrees north (the same latitude as Burgundy).

Northeastern France

Alsace

Alsace, in Northeastern France, is one of the most geologically diverse wine regions in the world, with vineyards running from the foothills of theVosges Mountains down to the Rhine River Valley below.

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