New arrivals from the Jura and beyond!

5/21/20 -

I remember when I first started developing a true appreciation of wine, and it coincides with the general time frame here at Chambers Street when our good friend and manager extraordinaire (back what... 10 years ago?), Sophie Barrett, was introducing our readers to the distinct and little-known wines of the Jura - a hilly, sleepy region in Eastern France.

All the wines from all the producers were available on our shelves, and a small but VERY committed group of "wine geeks" would delight in the selection and stock up on funky Poulsards and oxidative Savagnins. There was a mystique around Jura wines, as they were not hyped or really known outside of certain small circles.

Now, times have changed (and to think we saw tariffs as the bad news of 2020!), with higher prices, and smaller allocations, and it's been a long time since we were able to offer some of today's wines online. 2018 was a healthy and relatively plentiful vintage (finally!) in the Jura, and everything we've tasted - in France and stateside - has been balanced, acid driven and very classic for the region. Previous vintages were quite good if there were enough grapes to make wine. Many winemakers had to raise prices or harvest grapes elsewhere (Alice Bouvot of Domaine L'Octavin is particularly prolific as you will see) in order to get by, so there are some non-Jura wines here (quelle horreur!), but we've noted the grapes and region of origin on each one.

We know you're all still hunting for a bottle of Overnoy, sorry we can't deliver on that front, but we hope you find something you like in this offer!

-Eben Lillie

PS> I would like to direct some small amount of attention to the sparkling wines of the Jura - in this case of Stephane Tissot and Domaine des Marnes Blanches, which I think are truly exceptional, and arguably some of the best non-Champagne sparkling wines in all of France.