L'ÉTOILE 2020

With a clear and brilliant colour, this wine presents green and pale gold reflections. Its complex nose reveals finesse and minerality. In the mouth its attack is frank and opens on mineral notes and dried fruit. This wine has a good amplitude and a very long persistence.

Serve it with langoustines, fish terrine, white meats and French Comté cheese. When used in cooking, it gives a touch of refinement in coulis and sauces for top-quality meat.

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.

L’ÉTOILE AOC has been producing exceptional white wines – including vin jaune and vin de paille – since 1937. The Chardonnay vine variety reigns supreme there, used either alone or in combination with Savagnin.

The name of this AOC is something of a legend. It may refer to the presence of numerous small star-shaped fossils called pentacrines, which are a distinctive feature of its terroir. It may also refer to the star shape formed by the five hills surrounding the village.

The nature of the clayey-limestone soils favors Chardonnay (locally called Gamay blanc), omnipresent on the appellation, representing 90% of the grape varieties. The marls covered with limestone clays and limestone fragments are only very rare here. The L'Etoile vineyard therefore benefits from a lighter soil than elsewhere, which undoubtedly gives the specificity to its wines.

The work in the vines, is based on the respect of the nature and the soil. For young vines, located on steep slopes, to avoid erosion, we cultivate a row out of two, 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 vigor and yield. The Guyot double size is necessary for the Chardonnay to better control its performance. The restructuring of the vines contributes to the harmony of our cuvée: the young vines bring the exuberance, the freshness and the acidity. While the older specimens bring the structure and character.

Reception of the grapes, vatting by gravity into a thermo-regulated tank for the fermentation. They are pressed, and musts are settling under control temperature. Then the fermentation is engaged and maintained at low temperature (20- 22°C). Ageing in stainless steel tanks, for 2 -3 months to aid the preservation of the wine's minerality, purity of fruit and crisp acidity.

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 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.