Domaine Overnoy-Crinquand Arbois-Pupillin La Bidode Chardonnay 2018
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The wine displays excellent, firm acidity, is rather full in the mouth, quite honeyed in its nose and flavor, fine with a persistent, mineral-dominated finish.
Arbois-Pupillin Chardonnay La Bidode is fermented in wood where the malolactic fermenatation also occurs; the “élevage” is in “demi-muid” (500 – 600 liter barrels); the wine spends a minimum of two years in barrel before being bottled; there is a virtually no SO2 used during the aging process; although the wine is not purposely aged “sous voile”, it is never topped up during its time before bottling and there is only a single racking during the “élevage”.
Blend: 100% Chardonnay
The vineyards, situated entirely within the confines of Pupillin, are on rather severe slopes within the area known as “La Bidode”. All farming aspects are handled organically and that has been the case since the establishment of the domaine many decades ago. The vineyards are planted to a mix of the classic varieties of the Jura: two hectares of Ploussard, one hectare of Trousseau, one hectare of Savagnin and one and one-half hectares of Chardonnay. All harvesting is done by hand. The vinification and elevage of the wines is profoundly traditional giving the wines the pronounced and unique expression of the terroir of the Jura. Currently, 90% of the production is sold to private clients and we consider ourselves fortunate to have access to the limited amount of wine that is made available for export.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
On the foothills of the Jura Mountains, just east of the Cote de Beaune on the Switzerland border, the Jura wine-producing zone is recognized for its unique reds, as well as its particular and diverse styles of whites.
Though borrowed from their neighbor Burgundy, Chardonnay and Pinot noir have been growing in Jura since the Middle Ages. But here the altitude, topography, climate and clay-rich, marl soils support a different style of Pinot noir, not to mention its other deeply-colored, full-bodied indigenous reds, Poulsard and Trousseau.
Considering area under vine, growers here favor Chardonnay for its consistency and reliability; it comprises almost half of Jura's vineyard acreage. However, Jura Chardonnay is anything but boring; its many offbeat styles are part of what make region’s wines so distinctive. It is used for Cremant (sparkling), Macvin (a fortified wine), as well as fine examples at the quality level of Burgundy.
Jura also has a unique oxidative style for Chardonnay but is better recognized for its similarly-styled “vin jaune,” meaning ‘yellow wine,’ which is made from the indigenous variety, Savagnin. Vin jaune is made using techniques similar to those used to make Sherry.
For all of its wines, Jura favors a traditional, natural and often organic style in viticulture and winemaking.