The Pope and Friends…
10/18/12 -
(Nothing says fall like a glass of Trousseau...)
Once in the recent past, we didn’t buy Puffeney. We wanted to make room for some new faces in the Jura. If it were up to some of us, we’d allow the Jura section of our store slowly to expand, spilling over into Burgundy, the Rhône, Alsatian Riesling, etc… until the fabulous vignerons of the Jura attain the status of wine world domination, imaging, of course, that wine world domination consists of taking up ample shelf space at Chambers Street Wines. I digress. When we didn’t buy Puffeney, we heard an outcry on the part of our customers. “We want Puffeney! Bring back The Pope of the Arbois!” So, for those of you who spoke up during the Puffeney hiatus, the pope is back! And with him, his neighbor in Montigny-lès-Arsures, the shyly brilliant Michel Gahier, and a new grower, recently arrived in the New York market: Mickaël Crinquand of Domaine Overnoy-Cinquand (only distantly related to Pierre).
We’ll keep the overview of these wonderful growers short. Jacques Puffeney is one of the first Jurassians to grace the shelves and wine lists of American shops and restaurants. His wines are made very traditionally; vinification and aging take place in old barrels, and the white wines are, for the most part, aged in the traditional manner, under a thin layer of yeast called voile. The wines are quite structured with firm mineral backbones and high acidity; they will benefit from time in the cellar. We are longtime fans of Puffeney’s super-mineral Poulsard “M,” and his Trousseau from the “Bérangères” vineyard is truly a tour de force.
Several years ago, Puffeney was joined in the Neal Rosenthal portfolio by Michel Gahier, and Gahier’s wines have delighted us ever since. For the most part lighter and more feminine in style than Puffeney’s wines, Gahier’s Ploussard and Trousseau are eminently, deliciously drink-able young and - we’d even go so far as to suggest - good for drinking while you wait for your Puffeney to come ‘round. We also offer Gahier’s sous-voile Chardonnay “Fauquettes,” a wine that has great potential to age (I’m happy to confirm having tasted older bottles in Gahier’s cellar last spring).
Our first encounter with the wines of Overnoy-Crinquand has been a pleasant one. This Domaine is based in Pupillin, the red marl and limestone soils of the village giving distinct minerality to this grower’s Ploussard and Trousseau. It’s a five hectare Domaine, the history of which dates back to the 17th Century. The current proprietor, Mickaël Crinquand, works with very small plantings of older vine Ploussard, Trousseau, Chardonnay, and Savagnin. Certified organic since the 1970s, Crinquand encourages biodiversity in the vineyard. Grapes are manually pressed, and fermentation takes place with natural yeast. All in all, this is ultra-traditionalism of the sincerest form. We hope you’ll enjoy experimenting with these new Jurassian offerings as much as we have. Salut! –Sophie
*Please note that we have not yet had the opportunity to taste the new releases from Puffeney and Gahier; with the exception of Overnoy-Crinquand, the wines are not here yet, but will be trickling in over the next few weeks.
