ARBOIS CHARDONNAY VIGNES DE SORBIEF 2020

- A clear and brilliant gold colour, with green and pale gold reflections.
- A complex nose revealing finesse, roundness and minerality.
- In the mouth its attack is frank and opens on floral notes and dried fruit followed by a good amplitude and a very long persistence.

Serve  with fine fish, shellfish and crustaceans, white meats such as veal or poultry, and local cheese such as Comté or Swiss cheese.

12 to 14°C (53-57°F).

5 to 6 years.

The Jura wine region is small in size but large in its remarkable diversity. It covers 80 kilometres between Burgundy and Switzerland, in the eastern France.

The Arbois AOC is the oldest and largest of the Jura's four geographic AOCs. In particular, it was France's first AOC (created in 1937).  

Its name originates in the Celtic words "ar" and "bois" that would mean "fertile land".

The “Sorbief” parcel is locally known as one of the best terroirs in Arbois. It is at least the treasure of the estate’s vineyards where we identified and selected of the best plot adapted to the Chardonnay. The parcel is located in the west of the Domaine and to the southwest of the Arbois village on a lovely hill overlooking the famous “Route des vins du Jura” (the Jura wine road) RN 83.

- Surface: 2,85 Ha
- South and southeast exposure
- Average age of vines :  50 years (1974)
- Soils: marls and limestones with fossil shells.

The work in the vines, is based on the respect of the nature and the soil. We practice soil reassembly to aerate the lands subjected to settlement due to moisture, and grass with plants. Such as clover, which, by competing on the vine, can modulate its mineral and water supply and control its vigour and yield.

The Guyot double size is necessary for the Chardonnay to better control its performance.

Reception of the grapes, harvested manually, sorting and vatting by gravity into a thermo-regulated tank for the fermentation. Once the grapes are pressed, the musts are settling under control temperature. The fermentation is then maintained at low temperature (20-22°C / 68-72°F). Ageing in oak barrels for 9 months (including 30% new oak barrels). Bottling with a light filtration.

We were slightly less affected in the Jura vineyards, by drought than other regions thanks to rain during the month of August. One of the main challenges with this very early harvest was to achieve both optimal ripeness and balance.

Harvest was spread over a month on this estate, which has 234 ha (578.22 ac) in production this year.  The harvest was good thanks to the replanting and reorganizing carried out in the vineyard over the last five years. The harvest began on 17 August with the crémants. We were the first estate in the region to start so early, but this enabled us to obtain the best acid balance for the blanc de noirs. On 4 September we harvested Château-Chalon and its Savagnin destined for the veil. Normally, the harvest always ends on these parcels, but this year the estate opted to maintain good acidity by harvesting early. The last Savagnins were harvested on 18 September.

The Jura, now more than ever, can lay claim to being the sixth sub-region of Burgundy! It boasts citrusy Chardonnays with a distinct mineral quality despite the very ripe state of the grapes and fruity Pinot Noirs with ripe tannins.

Bourgogne Aujourd'hui Magazine (June 2024) - 17/20 - June 2024
James Suckling, MW - 91 pts - January 2023