A vineyard unlike any other

The Jura vineyard is small — around 2,000 hectares, a drop in the ocean by French standards — but it has no equivalent. It is the only place in the world that produces Vin Jaune, it grows three grape varieties found almost nowhere else, and its wine villages have stayed villages rather than turning into film sets. The route runs north to south for roughly 80 kilometres, from Salins-les-Bains down to the Sud Revermont, following the edge of the first limestone plateau.

Five grape varieties

• Chardonnay — about half the vineyard. In the Jura it comes in two styles: ouillé, where the barrel is topped up, giving a fresh mineral wine close to a white Burgundy, or sous voile, with the oxidative character the region is known for.
• Savagnin — around a fifth of the plantings, and the only grape allowed for Vin Jaune.
• Poulsard, also spelled Ploussard — another fifth, giving very pale, light, perfumed reds that can look almost like rosé.
• Trousseau — rarer, for deeper and more structured reds.
• Pinot Noir — the Burgundian grape, completing the red range.

Six appellations

Three are geographical and named after their village: Arbois, the largest at around 850 hectares; Château-Chalon, around 76 hectares producing nothing but Vin Jaune; and L'Étoile, around 70 hectares. Côtes du Jura covers the rest of the vineyard. The last two are product appellations rather than places: Crémant du Jura, the region's sparkling wine, and Macvin du Jura.

Vin Jaune: what makes it different

Six years and three months untouched

Vin Jaune is made from Savagnin alone, from a single vintage. After fermentation it goes into oak barrels and is then left alone: no racking, and crucially no topping up as the wine evaporates. It must spend a minimum of six years and three months in the cellar, of which five years in barrel.

During that time a veil of yeast forms naturally on the surface. It shields the wine from harsh oxidation while slowly reshaping its chemistry, producing aromas found in no other dry white wine — the walnut and curry note that oenologists attribute to a compound called sotolon.

The clavelin and the angels' share

Vin Jaune is bottled in the clavelin, a squat 62 cl bottle. The size is not arbitrary: it is what remains of one litre of wine after six years of evaporation in the barrel. The missing part is the angels' share.

How to drink it

Vin Jaune can be made in four appellations: Arbois, Château-Chalon, Côtes du Jura and L'Étoile. Serve it at 13 to 15 °C, never straight from the fridge — too cold and it closes up completely. It belongs at the table, with aged Comté or the local classic, chicken in a cream and morel sauce. And because it was raised in contact with air, an open bottle keeps for several days, which is rare for a white wine.

The other Jura specialities

Vin de paille

Straw wine is a sweet wine made from grapes dried after the harvest — traditionally on beds of straw, now usually on racks or hung up — for at least six weeks and sometimes up to six months. The berries lose their water, the sugars concentrate, and the finished wine sits between 14.5 and 17 % alcohol. It ages at least two years in small barrels and comes in a 37.5 cl bottle. Chardonnay, Savagnin, Poulsard and Trousseau can all go into it. Serve it with foie gras or a chocolate dessert.

Macvin du Jura

Macvin is not strictly a wine: it is a fortified aperitif made by adding Jura marc brandy to grape must, which stops the fermentation. It then spends at least twelve months in oak and sits between 16 and 22 % alcohol. Usually white, sometimes red, served cold as an aperitif or with melon.

Crémant du Jura

The region's sparkling wine, made by the traditional method with a second fermentation in the bottle. It accounts for a substantial share of Jura production and is the easiest, least expensive way into the region's wines.

The route, village by village

Salins-les-Bains, the northern gateway

A spa town squeezed into a narrow valley, listed by UNESCO for its Great Saltworks, which produced salt here until 1962. A good place to start before the vineyards proper.

Arbois, the capital

Arbois is the heart of the vineyard and the busiest stop on the route. Louis Pasteur grew up here and carried out part of his work on fermentation in the family vineyard; his house is open to visitors. The town has the highest concentration of cellars on the whole route, and the Château Pécauld houses the vineyard museum.

Pupillin, the Ploussard village

A tiny village just above Arbois that calls itself the world capital of Ploussard. It is dense with small growers and one of the easiest places to taste without an appointment.

Poligny, where wine meets Comté

Poligny is both a wine village and the seat of the Comté trade body. If you want to combine the vineyard with the cheese, this is where the two meet.

Château-Chalon, the one to see

Perched on a rocky spur above its own vineyard, Château-Chalon is classed among the Plus Beaux Villages de France and is the only appellation that makes Vin Jaune and nothing else. The view over the vines from the village belvedere is the picture most visitors come for.

Baume-les-Messieurs, the detour

Not a wine village, but five minutes off the route and impossible to skip: an abbey at the bottom of a blind valley, with caves and a waterfall at the head of it.

L'Étoile and Lons-le-Saunier

L'Étoile is a small appellation named after the star-shaped fossils in its soil. Just south, Lons-le-Saunier is the largest town on the route and a practical base for the southern half.

The Sud Revermont, the quiet end

South of Lons the vineyard thins out and the villages get quieter. This is the stretch closest to our gîtes, around Orgelet and Lake Vouglans.

Practical advice

• Get in touch with the cellars first. Most Jura estates are small family operations. Outside Arbois and Pupillin, turning up unannounced is hit and miss, especially on Sundays and Mondays.
• Don't try to do it in one day. Eighty kilometres sounds short, but the roads wind and the point is the stopping, not the driving. Two or three half-days from a single base works far better.
• Nominate a driver. Tastings add up quickly and the roads between the villages are narrow.
• When to go. Spring and early autumn are the best compromise between weather, colours and cellar availability. Harvest, usually in September, is a busy time when growers have less of it to spare.
• Percée du Vin Jaune. Every February a different village hosts this festival marking the opening of the new Vin Jaune vintage. It is the biggest wine event in the region.

Where to stay

The southern half of the route is within easy reach of the Lake Vouglans area, where our gîtes are. From Orgelet, Lons-le-Saunier is about thirty minutes away and Château-Chalon about fifty, which makes a day on the wine route perfectly comfortable without changing accommodation.

• Our flat in Montmorot, right beside Lons-le-Saunier and the closest of our properties to the vineyard.
• Gîte du Sapin and Gîte Cadet Roussel, in the Orgelet and Lake Vouglans area.
• Our gîte with private spa and sauna, if you would rather come back to something quiet after a day of tasting.

If this is your first trip to the region, our first-timer's guide to the Jura covers the lakes and waterfalls, and how to choose and book a gîte explains how renting works here. For a day off the wine, Lake Vouglans is twenty minutes from the gîtes.

Questions before booking? The easiest way to reach us is by email: write to us in English and we will reply in English.

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