Grape Varieties

Five grape varieties carry the entire Jura, no more and no less. Chardonnay fills half the area and delivers taut, mineral-driven white wines with plenty of acidity. Savagnin covers about a fifth and is the true soul of the region. An old, very late-ripening variety that can end up in the glass by two completely different paths.

In one method, the winemaker regularly tops up the barrel so no oxygen reaches the wine, resulting in a fresh, austere white wine with green fruit and biting acidity. This method is called ouillé, topped up. The second method forgoes exactly that, and from it emerges Vin Jaune. Two names for the same grape, two wines that could hardly be more different.

Among the reds, Poulsard leads, known around the village of Pupillin also as Ploussard. Its skin is wafer-thin and contains almost no pigment, so the wine stays pale like a robust rosé. This shade is called oeil de perdrix, partridge eye. Yet it holds real acidity, along with a scent of wild strawberry and white pepper that seems entirely at odds with its light color.

Trousseau is its counterpart, darker, more tannic, with more body. Because Poulsard alone can sometimes seem too light, many winemakers blend it with Trousseau to give the wine backbone. Pinot Noir, the fifth and least widespread variety, adds more depth and aging potential to Jura red wines, even though its share of the red plantings remains small to this day.