2019 Domaine Labet Chardonnay 'Les Juvéniles- Bajocien' Côtes du Jura

LEGENDARY ALLOCATED WINE! WE ONLY GET SIX BOTTLES!

Certified organic (Ecocert), biodynamic practices. Chardonnay from 3 parcels, soils are clay on limestone base. Élevage in 228L oak barrels for 20 months. Unfiltered, unfined, less than 6mg/L SO2. 

An incredibly complex nose of smoky, salty orchard fruit, lemon curd, starfruit, dried pineapple. Medium bodied, with similar fruit flavors, slight hints of almondy oxidation and crazy energetic acidity to offset its buttery richness. Finishes long and mineral driven. Will only get better with age. Immensely versatile food wine. 

A family domaine born in 1974, Domaine Labet was an early adopter of what was then an exceedingly "modern" approach to Jura winemaking: topping up, creating the "Ouillé" method that would be fresh, less oxidative and more energetic wines. This was not to denigrate the traditional methods of the Jura, but rather to show just how compelling Jura whites could be, and eventually helped them to secure a foothold among the top white wines in the world.

Julien Labet spent time with Domaine Ramonet and further learned how to create white wines of great quality, as Ramonet classically favors small-barrel aging on the lees, letting the results of phenomenal viticulture create tremendous energy and complexity in conjunction with the classic Burgundian methods.

Julien took the process a step further, as he was one of the first in the Jura to adopt single-plot fermentation and bottling, rather than blending everything; that still occurs for some of his wines, but he found many of the old-vine plots to be so phenomenally interesting in their own right that they screamed for their own bottles.

Julien's wines will be both traditional and modern (ish) - he creates mostly whites that are topped up and non-oxidative - these are made a la Burgundy, in neutral 228L barrels on the fine lees - but will occasionally release the "vin de voile" style that is more traditional of the Jura, aged in ancient foudres. Reds will be mostly de-stemmed and aged in barrels, except the Trousseau wines which are aged in ancient foudres.