Jean Francois Ganevat - Rotalier Jura.

I would like to say a few kind words about a very good winemaker: Jean-Francois Ganevat whose vineyards are in the village of Rotalier in Jura.

The guy is now very successful (at least in France!), so that when we visited him in April he had absolutely no bottles anymore to sell to anybody. Every bottle has gone and Jean-Francois could not open any bottles for clients to taste. He had to cancel visits from sommeliers... That is success! Still we could taste the 2009 white wines that were all still in barrels. Yoko and I found them superb and we could secure a few boxes for VFM.

Jura is not far from Burgundy. The climate might be slightly colder and soils are similar. The grapes for making wine are mainly Pinot Noir and Poulsard for red and Chardonnay and Savagnin for white. Pinot noir and Chardonnay are just the same grapes used in Burgundy. There is also a tradition of oxydized white wines in Jura. And in particular there is the famous "vin jaune" made from Savagnin with a very specific process. It is prestigious and popular in France. But it has definitly a particular taste... So either people loves it or dislikes it. It is a bit like spinach... either one loves or hates. Personnaly I appreciate a lot vin jaune and also good spinach. People also make wines in Jura just like in Burgundy that is with barrels full so without oxygen so that in this case the wine is very little oxygenated. This is called "ouillage". One has to fill the barrels to ensure it is always full.

Jean-Francois worked in Burgundy (Meursault as far as I remember) before he came back in Jura to work on the family vineyard. He makes red from Pinot noir and Poulsard and the two kind of wines with and without "ouillage" and vin de paille. What is really particular with Jean-Francois is that he makes extremely "natural" wines. Nearly without any sulfites and without heavy processes to change the taste of the grapes. This requires an incredible work in the vineyards. Vinifications are of course with complete grapes etc... without technical tricks... (I can explain if there is an interest but it is a bit technical for a blog.)

Results are handsome. His reds are fruity, say a bit in the style of Pacalet. Very "drinkable" according to some critics. Understand: it is just a pleasure to drink and it is hard to refrain from having many glasses. I remember tasting with the "meilleur sommelier de monde ****"(!) who owns now a wine shop. His opinion was that it is trully great but may be not for everybody. People need to be accustomed may be ...????

His whites are simply extraordinary. Some of his vines are more than 100 years old. His chardonnays grapes are grown on fantastic soils: "marnes blanches" and "marnes bleues". That yields wines comparable to Corton Charlemagne. JF had also some Savagin that is sometimes mixed with Chardonnay. Eventually prices are really wise. No speculation there. JFG is fantastic.

Jean-Francois has also very strong opinions about wines and I tend to share some of his views. His wines are really worth sending to Japan and the carbon cost per bottle is completely justified.