Vin Jaune flies in the face of viticultural orthodoxy.

It is a rebel, a wine that somehow miraculously weathers the slings and arrows of time to gain a depth and complexity that makes it unlike any other wine on Earth. Though the most obvious comparison is with Spain's oxidized Sherry, Vin Jaune is denser and more robust, and it also has a strong tail of acidity that Sherry simply does not.

We’re over a decade into the third millennium, and Jean-François Ganevat is reputed to have no computer. He fulfills orders for his 40-50 different wines (40-50!) by fax machine. And he gets back to people when he wants. We speak from experience:

We had our importer fax some questions over to Jean-François on November 4th. We received an answer from him March 27th.

"The charm of the Jura and its wines come from the sense that time has grown genuinely mossy and amnesiac here. Small vineyards, old vines, curious grape varieties seen and tasted nowhere else, vinification methods that would be regarded as obtuse or mad by the oenological conformists who pass judgment at international wine shows. If you are one of those people who long to escape from the shallowness and tedium of wine fashion, then the Jura is for you." Andrew Jefford, The New France

France's Jura is truly one of the final frontiers of wine. You may be 50 miles east of the Cote d'Or, the beating heart of Burgundy (near the border with Switzerland), but you might as well be in a galaxy far, far away from modern wine tastes. If today a handful of grapes hold nearly despotic sway over people's palates and the world's wine styles all seem to be marching, lemming like, off a cliff into some homogeneous ocean where everything looks and tastes the same, well, the wines of the Jura are absurd and eccentric, unique and invigorating and extraordinary values in the context of the long-lived complex wines that they are.

RARE: Aged Vin Jaune
1988 Puffeney Arbois Vin Jaune
The Only Bottles Available in the World
Released After 13 Years in Barrel Under Flor

Vin jaune is surely the crown jewel of the Jura. It delivers a level of complexity and a singular style (to say the least) that places it among the most interesting wines around. But for vin jaune to really show what it's made of, it requires some serious age.

Today we're happy to offer an example. 

There's so little of this wine that I'm afraid writing anything will only fan the fire. Please note from the outset that because of the limited quantities available, we're limiting purchases to one bottle per customer. If you're receiving this offer, it's only because you've purchased vin jaune from us in the past.

The Jura Master Breaks with Tradition
2007 Macle Côtes du Jura du Jura Chardonnay Ouille
Non-Oxidative, Absolutely Jura

Macle's Vin Jaune is the benchmark of Château-Chalon, Jura's most illustrious appellation. So when word got out that Macle was about to break with tradition and produce a non-oxidative (ouille) wine, we took it as big news and immediately sought it out.

To be honest, it took a little scheming to land the small amount of bottles on offer today.

Production is tiny. If you look for the wine on Wine-Searcher, you'll find it at exactly two places in the world: Crush and Stephane Planche's impressive Jardin des St. Vincent in Arbois. 

"Under Veil" but No Longer Under the Radar
2008 Macle Côtes du Jura
Jura's Pinnacle of Elegance and Refinement

Since we first started offering Macle's Côtes du Jura - four vintages ago! - we've loved witnessing this wine go from relative obscurity to up-and-coming darling of the U.S. wine scene.

The wines and their producer deserve it.

Jean Macle, who now applies his craft with his son, Laurent, is simply tops in the Jura when it comes to rendering sous voile ("under veil" or semi-oxidative style) wines with striking breed and harmony. These are some of the most complex, singular and food-friendly wines out there, and Macle's version really does represent the pinnacle of elegance and refinement from this region.

One of the Most Compelling Vinous Experiences on Earth
2004 Macle Château-Chalon
"Yellow Wine" at Its Most Elegant and Ageworthy

"One of those wines that seems to riffle through a repertoire of the natural world as you sniff and sip."
- Andrew Jefford, The New France

For those of you who know well the shocking pungency, the singularly compelling character of Vin Jaune, Jean and Laurent Macle’s Château-Chalons have long served as the benchmark for this illustrious appellation. (Essentially, Château-Chalon represents the pinnacle of Vin Jaune.) Macle farms only four hectares in Château-Chalon; his yields hover around 25 hl/ha, and he has a reputation for crafting the finest wines the Jura has to offer.

Beyond Vin Jaune
1999 Ganevat "Vignes des Mon Pere"
A Case for Savagnin's "Indisputable Nobility"

Leave it to Jean-Francois Ganevat to take Jura's iconic Vin Jaune and flip it on its head with his 99 Vignes des Mon Pere. Where Vin Jaune spends a minimum of six and a half years in barrel without topping up, Vignes des Mon Pere spent over ten years topped up.

What else would you expect from a winemaker who doesn't even own a computer?

Clearly, there is a tempo to life in Ganevat's Jura, a more natural rhythm that does not speak to our digital, instant-messaging world.

Wine of the Year #2: Joe's Pick
2009 Ganevat Pinot Noir Cuvée Julien
Or, "Why I Care About Wine in the First Place."

Jean-François Ganevat is one of the most admirable and skillful winemakers I know. He pulls out all the stops, spares no expense, treats his vines in a marginal region of the wine world with a level of dedication and reverence usually reserved for the most exalted terroirs.

The results are fascinating, compelling and undeniably Wine of the Year quality.

Coming up with a WOTY is no easy matter, but over the years I've been able to slowly refine what, for me, makes a WOTY. The wine has to say something fundamental about why I care about wine, and it has to say it in a way that's at least relatively accessible in terms of both style and price.

Melon-Queue-Rouge: a Red-Tailed Rarity
2008 Ganevat Cuvée Marguerite Magnums
Chardonnay's Exotic Cousin from One of Jura's Best

I've always loved Ganevat's wines, but so few make it into the U.S. that it was hard to grasp just how crazy-good his stuff is, how deserving he is of the accolades. Then I tasted with him at his estate, and I got it. And out of 20 wines (from just over 9ha!), this little rarity stood out...

Why? Because this esoteric Melon-Queue-Rouge or "red-tailed" Chardonnay (a red-stemmed strain of Chardonnay that's completely unique to the Jura) kind of sums up the whole estate. Let me explain myself.