TN: Jura Night

WINE TALK
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TN: JURA NIGHT - Mon Ami Gabi - Chicago, IL (2/3/2014)

So it was my turn to host our monthly get together and decided to have the Jura as my theme. It’s really been a region that’s excited me over my wine collecting life. Jura fanatics are a relatively close knit group and it’s amazing the amount of information I’ve gleaned from the likes of Ross Massey, Tom Delorme, Warren Leonard, Michael Lewis, Dr. C, Tim O’Rourke, Eric Pottmeyer, Marc Davis, Peter Gibson, Bill Bucklew, Lars Markie, Faryan Amir-Ghassemi, Peter Weygandt, Phil Ashton, Bob Renner, Nathan Odem, Mark Davis, Salil Benegal, and Keith Levenberg over the years.

We had some duds, but overall it was a very nice tasting. Big thanks to Sue Kim and the team at Mon Ami Gabi for taking care of us. Highly recommended as a wine dinner spot. Sue and I worked ahead of time on the menu (which came out beautifully), and everything went off without a hitch. Food was great and spending time with chef Andrew Shedden was a lot of fun too.

First Course
Chicken liver mousse, morbier & comte. A great way to start the dinner…the wines paired nicely with the cheeses and mousse.

  • 2005 Michel Gahier Chardonnay Arbois La Fauquette - France, Jura, Arbois
    Nice waxy lemon notes with some subtle lanolin and marzipan. Really enjoyed the freshness on the palate with bright lemons, minerals, and some tangerine. Lingering almond note on the finish. Yum. (91 pts.)
  • 2007 Michel Gahier Chardonnay Arbois La Fauquette - France, Jura, Arbois
    A bit fleshier than the 2005 drank alongside. Still had the vibrant almond, lemon, mineral and salty notes on the nose. Palate seemed a bit thicker than the 2005 with a bit more marzipan and a hair less floral notes. Still had great acidity…just seemed more plush. (89 pts.)
  • 2007 Jean Bourdy Chardonnay Côtes du Jura - France, Jura, Côtes du Jura
    Definitely had more oxidative notes than the Gahier’s ('05/'07). Some creaminess on the nose…maybe almond cream? Its palate was really quite nice. While somewhat oxidative, it still has a lot of acid so the freshness was there. Had the “usual” lemon note that I love so much in these wines. (89 pts.)

Second Course
Served with sea scallops, braised pork belly and vegetable pot de feu. Loved the wines here (no surprise there) and they went really well with scallops and the meaty pork belly. Marnes Bleues continues to be my favorite site in the Jura.

  • 2008 Domaine Ganevat Côtes du Jura Les Chalasses Marnes Bleues - France, Jura, Côtes du Jura
    A stellar bottle of wine. I’ve loved this in the past and this may have been my favorite bottle. The aromatics had all the lovely lemon, almond, flinty notes I expected with a really beautiful briny note. Reminded me of a great Chablis. Its palate was just lights out. Acidity was dialed up with the bright lemons…but this had a really nice underbelly of mushroom that was seductive. Could drink this all day. (94 pts.)
  • 2009 Domaine Ganevat Côtes du Jura Les Chalasses Marnes Bleues - France, Jura, Côtes du Jura
    Made a mistake by not decanting this longer. Probably saw about 90 minutes of air before drinking it and, at first, this was a one-dimensional lemony wine. Disappointed I pushed my glass aside and decided to revisit it later. About 90 minutes later the wine had evolved a lot. More precise flavors, the alcohol toned down a bit and the fruit flavors fleshed out a bit more. I liked what this morphed into… (91 pts.)
  • 2010 Domaine Ganevat Côtes du Jura Les Chalasses Marnes Bleues - France, Jura, Côtes du Jura
    I’d like to think that the 2010s will reach the levels of the 2008s sometime soon. While I didn’t find this had the flinty depth that the 2008 had, there’s a lot of great stuff going on here. Plenty of bright citrus notes, some almond, and lovely florals. Tightly wound, I thought the acidity was just a hair too high toned at this point. I think this needs some time to flesh out a bit. Great stuff, but young. (92 pts.)

Third Course
Served with a perfectly cooked duck breast, burssels sprout, onion, parsnip hash and a pomegranate demi glaze. While the pinot was a disappointment, the other two wines showed very well.

  • 2008 Les Chais du Vieux Bourg Pinot Noir Côtes du Jura - France, Jura, Côtes du Jura
    I’ve drank so many great bottles of this vintage from Les Chais du Vieux Bourg that this off-bottle really let me down. It had completely refermented and was a spritzy, disjointed mess. Most compared this to a rose, but knowing how it’s tasted in the past I was just sad. NR (flawed)
  • 1981 Jean Bourdy Côtes du Jura Rouge - France, Jura, Côtes du Jura
    Another great bottle of this. Much like my last bottle this had some serious black tea, damp earth, and cranberry notes on the nose. The palate showed incredibly fresh with lots of bright red fruits (pomegranate & cranberry especially) more damp earth and some floral notes. I dug this a lot. (93 pts.)
  • 2005 Jean Bourdy Côtes du Jura Rouge - France, Jura, Côtes du Jura
    This has been a consistently strong performing bottle over the years. Beautiful combination of earthy notes, ripe red fruit, and a elegant floral lift. Palate was so light and airy, but packed a real big punch of cranberry, acidity, and florals. Wish I had a case or two of this. (92 pts.)

Fourth Course
We had lamb mergeuz, couscous, sultanas, chickpeas, arugla, mint and sherry vinaigrette. A very disappointing flight. The food was easily the best part.

  • 2010 Emmanuel Houillon (Maison Pierre Overnoy) Poulsard Arbois Pupillin - France, Jura, Arbois Pupillin
    Big shame, but this was a complete mess. Refermented ocean-spray cranberry cocktail juice. Even with air this just was not correct. NR (flawed)
  • 2010 Jacques Puffeney Poulsard Arbois - France, Jura, Arbois
    Had a bit of spritz on the nose, but I thought this was quite nice. Lots of dirt, radish, florals, and cranberries on the nose…really nice in that Jura kind of way. The palate beefed up with air and took on some depth with time. Nice red fruits, some edgy minerality, and forestal tones. (88 pts.)

Desert Course
Finishing things up with a very nice honey pear cake, sauternes, medjool dates, and vanilla ice cream. The desert wines were REALLY good. Nice way to end the night.

  • NV Jean Bourdy Côtes du Jura Galant des Abesses - France, Jura, Côtes du Jura
    Mr. Carrot Cake, meet Ms. Pumpkin Pie. I hope that everyone gets to try this wine someday. So much craziness going on that it’s hard to put everything that’s going on into a single note. Has a dazzling combination of pumpkin, carrot, peach, orange, and spice. The spices are outrageous. The hype is real. (94 pts.)
  • 2007 Domaine Julien Labet Côtes du Jura La Paille Perdue - France, Jura, Côtes du Jura
    Very sweet and viscous with a lot of peach, mango and other tropical fruit notes. I thought the acidity hung in there with the dense fruit…but I know others thought the sweetness took over a bit too much. Either way, I think most thought this was quite nice. (89 pts.)

Very disappointed by the Overnoy and the Les Chais du Vieux Bourg, but it was an otherwise fantastic night. Thanks again to the team at Mon Ami Gabi. Top rate venue, with top rate service.
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Thanks for the great notes.

Sadly my experience with the 10 Overnoy Poulsard so far mirrors yours. The remainder of mine are resting deep in the cellar in the hopes that time does them some good. If you get a chance to try the Ganevat Cuvee Marguerite (chard), it’s a beauty.

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Sounds like a great gathering–but no Vin Jaune?

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What a shame about the 2010 Overnoy. That is one of my favorite vintages of Overnoy Poulsard when it’s on. But aside from that and the off bottle of Bindernagel, this seems like a great dinner! Ganevat Chalasses Marnes Bleues is a fantastic wine. I am jealous you guys got to do a mini-vertical of it. Contrary to what you might expect, I have always found the '09 leaner than either the '08 or the '10.

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my taste for vin jaune only materialized a couple of months ago so what i own is far too young, and i decided not to source something either. there wasn’t much in the way of oxidized wines at all throughout the dinner. only the 2007 Bourdy Chardonnay had those dense nutty, marzipan-y notes.

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Thanks for the good notes. What a disappointment regarding the Overnoy Poulsard, but those things happen.

What’s the hype around Galant des Abesses? I find its story really interesting and I once drank the “wine” (don’t know if it still falls in the category of wine as it seems rather made in the style of a Vermouth) at Château de Germigney in Port Lesney and really, really liked it. It went especially well with the dessert they served there (pineapple tarte with caramel and pepper icecream). But I never would have thought that there’s a hype surrounding the Galant des Abesses or is there?

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I probably should have been more specific. The praise I read was from none other than Mr. Hype-Machine himself, Jon Rimmerman. In his email about the wine, he offered endless glowing praise, compared the wine to the finest desert wines in Europe, and built it up to be the second coming. The complete text of Jon’s email is attached to the Galant’s CT profile so you can read all of his over-the-top banter there.

I’ve disagreed with Jon on many wines, but I think he nailed this one. Very good stuff.

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Haha, that sales pitch is quite funny. I agree that the Galant des Abbesses is really tasty, but not just that, also complex and through its story very individual. But that “secret recipe” thing seems a bit over the top for me (I cite: “Bourdy’s Galant des Abbesses is a legend in France and they are the only estate that has the means to produce it - one estate, that’s it.”). Just to give an example, the German herbal liquor “Underberg” is produced according to a secret recipe, too. Only two or three members of the family know it and mix together the herbs every few weeks. Yet, this doesn’t give the drink any exclusivity. I don’t know how many bottles are produced each year, but it’ll easily go into the three digit millions.

That aside, I really do think that the Galant des Abbesses is a marvellous drink. I should buy some bottles, next time I’m around. I love Macvin with Malaga ice cream (for me, one of the best wine/food combinations around) and I imagine the Galant des Abbesses to be a good match for Malaga ice cream, too.

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Great to see some notes on these wines, thanks for posting and kudos for the idea, Matt.

santé,

Mike

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Great stuff Matt. Bummer about the Overnoy. Had the 05 in Paris a few months back and can still remember the persistence and density. I wish I could have attended, but next time you’re in NY we’ll open some Ganevat for sure.

Curious - what did you find to be the best food pairings?

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Cool lineup Matt !

I’ve found that Overnoy has quite a bit of bottle variation and some vintages of that wine ('93 Poulsard and '98 Savagnin) are undrinkable to me…but when it’s on, the wine is up there with some of the best wines I’ve ever had…I have fond memories of a dinner where I was drinking up a bottle of '02 Poulsard while most of the others ignored it…it was the most intellectual and complex wine (IMO) on a table filled with high-end burgs. Know anyone who has some Overnoy to drink? :slight_smile:

No surprises on Ganevat.

Have to say - while I’ve had some pretty good aged examples from Bourdry, I’m not convinced the wines of the last couple of decades are that good…and I don’t know how a winemaker that smokes like that can make good wine, but I’m sure there are good counter examples. :slight_smile:

-mark

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For me, the 2nd and 3rd courses were the best pairings. The Ganevat’s minerality/acid/fruit combination were great with the scallops, while the tea/mushroomy/pomegranate notes on the Bourdy’s went will with the duck.

Working on a NYC trip…stay tuned my friend.

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Matt did a terrific job organizing - the wines were great, the pairing great, and the place worked out beautifully. Even the pricing came in fair.

I also agreed largely with Matts assessment of the wines.
I too liked the 05 best in flight 1
I too liked the 08 best in flight 2
In flight 3, i actually really enjoyed the 05
in 4, i thought the Puffeney might have shown even a bit better than Matt
For dessert, i loved the Galant. Id never had it before but found it really interesting, really complex. A great digestif.

Everyone at the table learned a lot and enjoyed the wines immensely. I think Matt opened some eyes to the Jura in a big way.

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Looks like a great night Matt! Happy to see Alan has found a home.

Gahier has been hit or miss for me…I’ve tasted multiple vintages of various Trousseau and Chardonnay, as well as the Poulsard, and have been repeatedly disappointed. The good bottles haven’t inspired me to cellar any. Maybe I’m missing something? I’m told by Michael there are fans in DC.

I disagree with Mark and have enjoyed most bottles of recent vintage Bourdy. The blanc isn’t overtly oxidative, and because it carries more weight and structure, the rouge blend scratches an itch that Poulsard and Trousseau don’t. Aged bottles of both the blanc and Chateau Chalon have been fantastic, and I look forward to the old rouge I have in the cellar.

Regarding the Marnes Bleues, Michael beat me to it, and I share his assessment. Counter to vintage expectations, I have repeatedly found the '08 more forward and richer, but not lacking acidity, and the '09 leaner with less fruit and more minerality. The '10 may be the most balanced of the the three. I love this cuvee, as do we all.

As you know, I never much liked the '08 CdVB Pinot. I found it candied and sticky sweet…it was suggested to me that may be a result of innoculation. Curious if you have since been similarly struck by any Bindernagel wines?

Sorry to hear about the Overnoy…comes with the territory, unfortunately.

To Steve, love the Marguerite!

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Great notes. And I concur with Culang on Gahier – never saw the fuss. Others rave.

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Anybody have an idea of what a 1999 Overnoy Blanc might be varietal-wise?

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What color is the wax?

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I do not remember. Darker?

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If I remember correctly, white is Chardonnay, yellow is Savagnin, and green is Chardonnay/Savagnin.

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Correct. Then there is the ‘black’ wax bottle as well as VJ :slight_smile:. -mark