ARBOIS SAVAGNIN VIGNES DE SORBIEF 2022

With its beautiful light gold colour and green highlights, this Savagnin surprises with its mineral, floral and fruity notes (white fruits and exotic notes). On the palate, the combination of a unique terroir and ageing in oak barrels gives us a powerful, complex wine that offers a fine balance between lemony, mineral notes, aromas of white flowers and substance for a long, pleasant finish.

Serve with starters, shellfish, seafood, smoked salmon or fine fish, roast poultry and, of course, local cheeses such as Comté, Morbier, Bleu de Gex or Swiss Gruyère.

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 the Savagnin grape variety has been cultivated for generations. 

Particularly adapted to this late and demanding grape variety, the plot called “La Barodotte” 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: 1,5 Ha.
- Full South exposure.
- Average age of vines :  37 years (1987).
- Triassic marls sols.

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 to better control the vine 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. Then the wine is placed into oak barrels (with 30% of new oak) for the fermentation and a 9 months ageing period on fine lees, to expand its aromatic palette. It is a "naturé" Savagnin, a term used when aging wines while protecting them from contact with air, by filling them up as the level drops due to natural evaporation. Bottling with a light filtration.

Having endured the nights at the beginning of April, we were spared from the effects of the frost. A budburst on 13 April and flowering on 23 May promised an early harvest. June saw more than 150 mm of rainfall, allowing the marl soils to build up some healthy reserves to cope with the hot summer weather.

The harvest took place from 16 August to 15 September.
The grapes destined for the Crémant du Jura opened the show on 16 August, being the earliest date on record at the estate. This decision paid off as the balance of acidity was in line with what we were looking for. For our other Jura appellations, a generous rainfall on the weekend of 20 August allowed the vines to finish ripening in the best conditions.

The excellent health of the grapes allowed us to prolong the harvest until mid-September, with the opportunity to boost the maturity of the reds to their best polyphenolic potential, particularly for the Pinot Noir grapes, creating powerful, full-bodied wines. The white Chardonnays and Savagnins express floral aromas with a perfectly balanced mineral structure.

JamesSuckling.com - 93 points - May 2024