Jura/Arbois Wines

Arbois Wine

Arbois is a town in the north of the Jura region in eastern France. It is the wine capital here, and gives its name to the region's most prolific appellation for red, white and rose wines, as well as the vin jaune and vin de paille for which Jura is famous.

The Arbois appellation was introduced in 1936 and covers 13 communes on the hills and valley slopes surrounding the town. One of these, a small village named Montigny-les-Arsures is particularly known for the quality of its wines. Aso notable is the village of Pupillin. whose vineyards are planted on south-facing, limestone-rich slopes. Wines from these sites are sold as Arbois-Pupillin.

In total Arbois wines are made from roughly 2100 acres (850 hectares) of vineyards, planted with Chardonnay, Savagnin, Poulsard (or Ploussard as it is known here), Pinot Noir and Trousseau. About 70 per cent of Jura's red wines are produced under the Arbois name, and about 30 per cent of its whites.

Arbois wine covers a remarkable range of the wine color spectrum, to such an extent that the locals frequently use color terms like corail (coral) and rubis (ruby) in addition to red, white and rose. This diversity is due in large part to the fact that 'white' Arbois wines may be made from up to 20 per cent red grapes, and vice-versa. Poulsard, the region's key red variety, is lightly pigmented and is used to control the final color of a 'rose' wine.

The terroir of Arbois is characterized by limestone and marlstone screes and sandy, sometimes clay-rich soils. The name Arbois comes from Celtic words meaning 'fertile soil', and is most likely a reference to the particularly rich alluvial soils surrounding the Cuisance river, which rises just to the east of Arbois. The climate is continental, with warm summers and very cold winters, as might be expected at this slightly elevated altitude (1150ft/350m). The local vine training preference is for high trellising, to keep the vines safe from the ground frosts which regularly occur here in early autumn. Savagnin is particularly at risk from autumn frost, as it remains on the vine until later in the season, to achieve the high levels of ripeness required for the production of vin jaune.

The appellation and town share their name with the Arbois grape variety of the central Loire Valley.

Jura Wines

Jura wine, is French wine produced in the Jura département. Located between Burgundy and Switzerland, this cool climate wine region produces wines with some similarity to Burgundy and Swiss wine. Jura wines are distinctive and unusual wines, the most famous being vin jaune, which is made by a similar process to Sherry, developing under a flor-like strain of yeast.