📍 Jura

The Jura is a wine area in eastern France, in the department of the same name, on the western edge of the Jura Mountains. The vineyards stretch in a band about 80 km long and 2–5 km wide, between the first limestone plateau of the Jura massif and the Bresse plain, mostly facing west at 300–450 m. The soils are marls and clays with limestone scree. The climate is cool and wet, oceanic with continental influences and a wide gap between winter and summer temperatures.

The Jura is the home of "yellow wine", vin jaune. It is made from the Savagnin grape and aged for at least six years in oak barrels without topping up: a film of yeast forms on the surface of the wine and protects it during slow oxidation. The wine recalls walnut, very ripe apple, candied fruit and spices, and it is powerful and complex. It is bottled in a special 620 ml bottle, the clavelin. Vin jaune is made under the Arbois and Côtes du Jura appellations, and the Château-Chalon appellation, in four communes, produces only vin jaune from Savagnin.

The area also makes white wines, mostly from Chardonnay and Savagnin, and red and rosé wines from Poulsard, Pinot Noir and Trousseau. There are also the sparkling Crémant du Jura, made with a second fermentation in the bottle, and Macvin du Jura, a liqueur wine of 16–22 % alcohol in which grape must is fortified with marc spirit. Another Jura speciality is vin de paille: selected bunches are dried for at least six weeks before pressing.