2019 Domaine Ganevat Ctes du Jura Chardonnay “Les Chamois du Paradis”, Jura, France

ABOUT THIS WINE

This wine is made from old vines planted on clay-limestone soil. It is an unoxidized expression of Chardonnay raised without the addition of SO2 and bottled unfined and unfiltered.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

The green, rolling landscape of the Jura is a sight to behold, and the perfect picture of how a mountainous region nestled in between Burgundy and Switzerland should appear in the minds eye. In this cooler climate, vineyards are planted on slopes at varying altitudes and gradients. This region is home to forty different grape varieties with styles so different that they tend to shock the uninitiated. And at the heart of it all, in the charming hamlet of La Combe de Rotalier (just south of Lons-le-Saunier), Jean-Franois Ganevat is making wine with the inspired magic of an alchemist. Jean-Franois Ganevatknown as Fanfanis making wine with the inspired magic of an alchemist. His wines occupy the better part of the hamlet, filling picturesque country cottages with barrels and barrels of his diverse, yet traditional creations. He comes from a long line of winegrowers, dating as far back as 1650, although the family supplemented their grape-growing with a dairy that produced milk destined for the local cheese, Comt, until 1976. After working both for his father and for the prestigious Domaine Jean-Marc Morey in Chassagne-Montrachet, Jean-Franois returned to the Jura in 1998 to take over the family domaine. Today, he is joined by his sister, Anne. With only eight and a half hectares under vine, the family has seventeen different local varieties planted of both red and white grapesan incredible amount of variation to consider for holdings of such small size. For such a fervent perfectionist and insatiable lover of details as Jean-Franois, the decision to have the domaine certified as biodynamic was a natural choice.

Jean-Franois creates a stunning number of cuves, ranging between thirty-five and forty every year! His methodology goes far beyond the details of the average vigneron. For some, his process would be maddening, as each cuve calls for a highly individualized lvage. Jean-Franois is committed to minute doses of sulfur, so low in fact, that many fear it hurting the wines during transport. He curbs this issue entirely by aging many of his whites on the lees for extended periods of time, anywhere from two to eleven years! In all of his years making wine, he has never had a problem. In the Jura, many of the wines go through a traditional, intentional oxidation; however Jean-Franois aims to lend a greater lightness and elegance to wines of this style than are typical. He gravitates toward the Burgundian style, using ouillage to top off barrels. Jean-Franois Ganevat is a master of his craft, one of the true magicians of the eclectic. To say that his grapes are spun into gold would not be far from the truth; his wines are entirely otherworldly.