tell me about Ganevat

[Michael_Lewis]

Alan,

Lots of good info so far in the posts above, and I agree with most of it, especially what Noah, Matt, Eric, Paul, and mајкл said. I buy and drink a lot of Ganevat and even visited his cellar last year. What else do you want to know?

Michael

[paul_clark]

@Michael Lewis

Alan,

What else do you want to know?

Michael

How did you arrange an appointment? Did you call direct? Is he relatively open to individual non-IB visitors (i.e. appointments not arranged by importers)?

Cheers

[Michael_Lewis]

@paul clark

@Michael Lewis

Alan,

What else do you want to know?

Michael

How did you arrange an appointment? Did you call direct? Is he relatively open to individual non-IB visitors (i.e. appointments not arranged by importers)?

Cheers

I have to thank my wife, who has near-native fluency in French, for writing a nice e-mail in French requesting an appointment. We are not ITB, but explained that we have been collecting and drinking Ganevat for a number of years now and love the wines. They were happy to see us. It turns out that the day we were there, FanFan was busy with a bunch of photographers taking pictures of him and the cellar for some wine publication or other. So we met him briefly and chatted for a few minutes, and then his sister Anne, who is wonderful, took us around the cellar and tasted us on the lineup (or a lot of it anyway - there are just too many cuvees to taste all of them). I suspect it is getting harder to set up appointments, especially for those not ITB, but if you catch them at the right time and approach it in the right way, I think they try to be welcoming. We certainly felt welcomed.

[CFu]

@alan weinberg

@c fu

Alan don’t you have enough wine already.

stop colluding with my wife! Heck, I almost bit on your Mugneret-Gibourg!

I can just bring it with the giant box of westy 12

[alan_weinberg]

and a rope for her to hang me by.

[paul_clark]

@Michael Lewis

@paul clark

@Michael Lewis

Alan,

What else do you want to know?

Michael

How did you arrange an appointment? Did you call direct? Is he relatively open to individual non-IB visitors (i.e. appointments not arranged by importers)?

Cheers

I have to thank my wife, who has near-native fluency in French, for writing a nice e-mail in French requesting an appointment. We are not ITB, but explained that we have been collecting and drinking Ganevat for a number of years now and love the wines. They were happy to see us. It turns out that the day we were there, FanFan was busy with a bunch of photographers taking pictures of him and the cellar for some wine publication or other. So we met him briefly and chatted for a few minutes, and then his sister Anne, who is wonderful, took us around the cellar and tasted us on the lineup (or a lot of it anyway - there are just too many cuvees to taste all of them). I suspect it is getting harder to set up appointments, especially for those not ITB, but if you catch them at the right time and approach it in the right way, I think they try to be welcoming. We certainly felt welcomed.

Thanks for that, and thanks for the story…it’s a good one.

[Kevin_Kitagawa]

@paul clark

I would tend to disagree with two points above; the chards are good and the wines are not “ripe”. I might be misinterpreting the original intent of both statements in which case consider my post a elaboration of their points.

Ganevat’s chardonnays are classic profiles of the grape; tons of citrus and green apple layered on top of a chalky mineral foundation. His Savagnins are also extremely classic examples of the variety. I would put either next to the very best of each category and expect them to turn heads.

Regarding ripeness, his wines are broad, full bodied but they bring as much fresh, acidic snap to the party as they do muscle. I suspect there is a bit of RS (and ageing on lees?) which is responsible. Admittedly his wines are a rollercoaster of polyphenols which might understandably incline one to call them “ripe” but they are as linear and pointed as any other wine from the region. I would associate this more with old vines / small yields.

They’re not ripe on the context of wine in general…they’re riper compared to other Juras. The reds more so than the whites. They’re fuller in body and higher in alcohol…that doesn’t mean they’re overly ripe or too ripe for a wine…But if you compare them to other Juras, they are more ripe. Even your description of full bodied (which I wouldn’t describe them as but would indicate they’re ripe) and broad would indicate they’re ripe…but you’re absolutely right about the acidity…

That’s why his wines are popular…he somehow gets his grapes unusually ripe for the region and yet somehow maintains the right level of acidity. It is also why a lot of people feel his wines are more like Burgundy than Jura…

If it sounds like a slight from my end, it isn’t. I like his wines…but I don’t think I’d describe them as typical Jura…

[Arv_R]

I tried one of the whites last night for the first time. I think it was one of the oxidised ones, a savigin cuvee prestige.

They’re not to my taste at all.

More for you guys!

[paul_clark]

Drinking a bottle of L’Ailleurs (negociant). Reduction blows off to give way to a warm agrume / citrus character, a little towards apples and beurre salé, and a spicy herbal (parsley) note. Signature mouthfeel, stacked with phenols, slightly viscous but fresh with a hint of bitterness. Dry on the finish from the extract but suggestions of RS. Everything is in check, pretty good balance. A wine to drink for the pleasure of drinking.

[m_ristev]

how are his reds riper and higher abv than other jura producers?

[paul_clark]

Not sure they are…Overnoy’s is 12.5?

[Kevin_Kitagawa]

@m. ristev

how are his reds riper and higher abv than other jura producers?

Many of his others are in the 12-12.5 range…Trousseau 12-12.5 compared to 11s for quite a few other Juras…and they taste and feel like they’re greater than that.

And if you take Pauls assessment that he leaves a bit of RS, then they’re riper than the alcohol would suggest…

They feel fuller and taste riper…and that’s not just my opinion but as Paul said, there might be other reasons for that.

[Michael_Lewis]

Man I love the Jura. Here we are having a debate about whose wines have higher alcohol content, and the big upper limit we are calling “high” is 12.5%.

[Kirk.Grant]

Alan,

I’ve only had one bottle…but I was more than impressed. It was a lovely Chardonnay…

• 2012 Jean-François Ganevat Côtes du Jura Les Chalasses Vieilles Vignes - France, Jura, Côtes du Jura (4/2/2016)
  Color: Light golden yellow
  Smell: Floral notes, tropical fruits, pear, flint, yellow apple, w/ hints of sea shell and ocean breeze.
  Taste: Quince, green apple, lemon, and star fruit.
  Overall: This is a really lovely bottle of wine. I wish I had bought more…while it’s in a great space now, this also seems like it could have the structure to age well. Medium body, medium fruit, with high acidity, and a long, mineral-driven finish that still has my mouth watering. Outstanding!!

Posted from CellarTracker

[Kevin_Kitagawa]

@Michael Lewis

Man I love the Jura. Here we are having a debate about whose wines have higher alcohol content, and the big upper limit we are calling “high” is 12.5%.

I don 't know if anyone said it was too ripe or high but yeah, riper in the context of Jura still means not very ripe in the context of everywhere else…

[R_Gilbane]

@Michael Lewis

Man I love the Jura. Here we are having a debate about whose wines have higher alcohol content, and the big upper limit we are calling “high” is 12.5%.

Paging Dr Jura…

I owe Michael a debt of gratitude for sharing some of these wines with me…now my wife is hooked as well.

[Steve_Brickley]

Have one of these on order as my first try:

2011 Jean-François Ganevat Côtes du Jura Les Grands Teppes Vieilles Vignes

[Saul_Mutchnick]

Not gonna weigh in on whose wines are how ripe, but if you are using stated alcohol levels on a label as the basis for an argument, you might want to rethink that position. Under 14%, a producer can legally vary by 1.5% and so a lot of people just pick a number to print every year (like 12.5, which covers 11-14%). If someone has multiple vintages of the same wine from Ganevat, you should see if the “alcohol” varies from year to year.
(Edited to remove an autocorrect error)

[Michael_Lewis]

@Saul Mutchnick

Not gonna weigh in on whose wines are how ripe, but if you are using stated alcohol levels on a label as the basis for an argument, you might want to rethink that position. Under 14%, a producer can legally vary by 1.5% and so a lot of people just pick a number to print every year (like 12.5, which covers 11-14%). If someone has multiple vintages of the same wine from Ganevat, you should see if the “alcohol” varies from year to year.
(Edited to remove an autocorrect error)

Saul, so you are saying the Poulsard, pictured above, with 11% on the label might actually only be 9.5%? Man, I love the Jura.

[alan_weinberg]

weird timing–significant Ganevat offer from Rare Wine Co. today. All Chardonnay.

2014 Côtes du Jura Le Montceau, 2013 Côtes du Jura Les Compères and 2012 Arbois Dolium.