Croix & Courbet Côtes du Jura Savagnin Ouillé 2022

Limited. This year’s Côtes du Jura blend is drawn from Arbois and Château-Chalon. The parcel in Arbois—En Chemenot, from which the pair also make a single-vineyard Savagnin—is organically farmed, with Croix and Courbet involved in the harvesting decisions. In Château-Chalon, Sur Lya is exposed to the west on shallow clay-silt topsoil with limestone scree over a deeper layer of Liassic grey marl.

Regarding the winemaking, every bunch is harvested by hand, and the grapes go through a three-hour press cycle with whole clusters lightly crushed. All ferments are natural; the Sur Lya parcel ferments and matures in tank, while the Arbois fruit goes into used oak. Every care is taken to keep sulphur additions in the range of 20-30 ppm (none is added during maturation, and there was only a slight adjustment at bottling).

More lifted than the 2020 and more layered than the 2021, it’s savoury and wonderfully lucid—a Savagnin of striking depth and character. Humming with energy and drive, the palate is loaded with rocky, compact texture flecked by citrus, yellow flower and crushed stone, sculpted by powdery grip and a zesty, incisive beam of freshness. Hard to find the words to do the wine justice; it’s just a beautiful, engagingly complex white that keeps you on the edge of the seat.