Jean-Francois Ganevat, Les Cedres Chardonnay, Jura 2016

Whole cluster fermentation. No racking of the must. All whites go through malolactic fermentation. No sulfur dioxide added during vinification, only a touch at bottling. Aged in demi-muids of 300-L and 400-L, as well as 228-L barrels. Bottled in the summer, two years after the harvest.

No other Jura vigneron's star has risen faster than that of Jean-Francois Ganevat. Through the diversity, originality and sheer brilliance of his wines, he has drawn comparison to the likes of Coche, Jayer and Dagueneau as a producer whose wines transcend their appellations. Even more startling is the range of wines he makes: more than forty cuvees, each individual in character but highly consistent in quality. Such an achievement can be explained only by the lengths to which Ganevat is willing to go. What other grower destems individual grapes by hand with scissors, to make certain that each berry is intact? Who else farms forty distinct plots spread over only 8.5 hectares and then vinifies them separately, giving each their own highly individualized elevage? It doesn't end there. To fully express each terroir, Jean-Francois has planted 45 different ancient indigenous grapes among the appellation-approved varieties. And he uses eight people including himself;one person per hectare;to ensure that the labour-intensive biodynamic farming of each site is done perfectly. As Ganevat considers his viticulture by far the most important aspect of his work, he keeps his vinification and aging simple, but with no less an attention to detail. His fermentations are long, with indigenous yeasts in old demi-muids. Aging is for two or more years in the same casks for his Chardonnay and native Savagnin whites, with little or no sulfur added. As for the reds, from Pinot Noir and the indigenous Trousseau and Poulsard, Jean-Francois destems completely, then ferments the whole berries utilizing carbonic maceration as in Beaujolais and then aging in neutral barrels. And unlike many others in the Jura, he keeps the barrels for most of his white cuvees carefully topped up to avoid oxidation, as he believes that gives the purest expression of his numerous terroirs. Jean-Francois is the 14th generation to work his family's land at La Combe in the southernmost part of the Cotes du Jura, and he learned at his father's side from 1982 until 1989. It was in Burgundy that he gained a formal wine education, first at the oenology school in Beaune and then as cellarmaster at one of Chassagne-Montrachet's finest domaines, Jean-Marc Morey. Jean-Francois was therefore uniquely equipped when he took charge of the domaine in 1998. But, while his wines have a Burgundian finesse, their personalities are quintessentially Jura. Thanks to a high average vine age, differences in soil and Jean Francois' tailoring of elevage to each site, they are like no others.

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