Domaine Henri Maire Arbois Vin Jaune (375ML half-bottle) 2012
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Dunnuck
Jeb -
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Winemaker Notes
The wine’s long maturation in oak barrels helps achieve its wonderful deep, limpid golden color. Its very intense nose contains a range of aromas: cooked apple, curry, saffron and walnut. Its mouthfeel has a lively, powerful and well-formed attack. The mouthfeel confirms the aromas in the nose, providing a remarkable range of flavors: fresh walnut, curry, green apple, dried fruit and saffron. A grandiose finish.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Sherry-like notes of toasted almonds, cheese rind, white flowers, and buttered pancakes emerge from the 2012 Vin Jaune, and it's medium-bodied, with a fresh, crisp texture and bright acidity. It's going to shine as an aperitif.
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Wine & Spirits
Scents of Marcona almonds fill this luscious vin jaune, a soil-driven wine that puts its limestone pallor ahead of anything else. Its intensity builds with air, the salty mineral character mouthwatering, calling for an aged Alpine cheese.
Domaine Henri Maire has been nestled in the Jura, a wine region in eastern France between Burgundy in the east and Switzerland in the west, since 1632. Founded by a man named, Maire, for over 300 years, generations of Maires succeeded one another, strengthening the Maison’s expertise. For Domaine Henri Maire, the “Path to Gold” is an initiation to the richness and diversity of Jura wines. It starts with Côtes du Jura, which exalts the freshness of Chardonnay. It follows with Arbois, with its rich palette of wines, the use of Savagnin and the mysterious veil ageing. Considered to be one of the world’s greatest wines, Vin Jaune has a golden yellow color, hence its name.
Domaines Henri Maire is the story of a long journey that began in 1632 with the census record of a man by the name of Maire, “owning vineyards and cellars.” For over 300 years, generations of Maires succeeded one another, strengthening the Maison’s expertise.
Today, the Boisset family, another vineyard dynasty, ensures the continuation of this journey by modernizing and opening Domaines Henri Maire to the world, while respecting its unspoiled legacy.
An ancient and genetically valuable vine variety with origins in NE France, Savagnin is a parent to many modern varieties but is most associated today with the Jura. It is responsible for a few styles of wine, the idiosyncratic Vin Jaune, a wine matured in barrel under a film of flor yeast and the sweet, concentrated Vin de Paille. Savagnin also makes a charming sparkling or still wine and is often found in blends with Chardonnay. Somm Secret—While Savagnin is an off-spring of Pinot, Savagnin is a parent of Chenin Blanc, Grüner Veltiner, Sauvignon Blanc, Silvaner and Trousseau.
On the foothills of the Jura Mountains, just east of the Cote de Beaune on the Switzerland border, the Jura wine-producing zone is recognized for its unique reds, as well as its particular and diverse styles of whites.
Though borrowed from their neighbor Burgundy, Chardonnay and Pinot noir have been growing in Jura since the Middle Ages. But here the altitude, topography, climate and clay-rich, marl soils support a different style of Pinot noir, not to mention its other deeply-colored, full-bodied indigenous reds, Poulsard and Trousseau.
Considering area under vine, growers here favor Chardonnay for its consistency and reliability; it comprises almost half of Jura's vineyard acreage. However, Jura Chardonnay is anything but boring; its many offbeat styles are part of what make region’s wines so distinctive. It is used for Cremant (sparkling), Macvin (a fortified wine), as well as fine examples at the quality level of Burgundy.
Jura also has a unique oxidative style for Chardonnay but is better recognized for its similarly-styled “vin jaune,” meaning ‘yellow wine,’ which is made from the indigenous variety, Savagnin. Vin jaune is made using techniques similar to those used to make Sherry.
For all of its wines, Jura favors a traditional, natural and often organic style in viticulture and winemaking.