2009 Domaine Ganevat Arbois En Barby- France, Jura, Arbois (11/18/2014)
I’ve always been wary of the savagnins, worried that they were made in some oxidative style (I like my white wine green acid fresh, thank you very much). Took a flyer on this one and boy, am I impressed. This is basically a bottle of Krug without bubbles, if a little dialed down on the intensity. The nose has a dominant aroma of baked apples, as well as a bit of soap, and bread. The palate is quite lush and rich – this is certainly ripe but totally held in check by the mouth-watering acidity. Quite mineral, with the notes of apples again and a hint of smoke. The finish reminds me a lot of sambuca. Really good, count me a fan of Fan-fan. (90 pts.)
Well, some are and some aren’t. Usually it will say “sous-voile” somewhere on the label, but that might not always be advertised well. Don’t be scared, you might just like them.
The ones that I drank, and I drank a lot of savagnin during a few days in Jura last week, didn’t have anything written on the label that indicates “sous-voile” or “ouille”. I figured, you’ll just have to know the producer’s style. It’s a good thing that restaurants that I went had it indicated on the list, or their lists divide their offered whites by “sous-voile” and “ouille”.
Even the ouille wines from Ganevat can sometimes seem a little oxidative to me (although not nearly in to the extent of the sous voile wines). But Ganevat makes a lot of wines in a lot of different styles. I think the vignes de mon pere is an amazing wine that shows savagnin in a really incredible light. It is pricey, but wonderful. On the other hand, I find the cuvee prestige to be undrinkable. And then there is much in between.
A
I admit I’m not a huge fan of dry sherry. Things that veer that way tend to scare me off: flor on top of the barrel, I’m good thanks. Unfortunately there’s no mention on this bottle as to whether it’s ouille or sous-voile. That said, it was a Ganevat at a “decent” price so I decided to give it a shot and ended up pleasantly surprised.