Better Know a Grape: Savagnin
There’s obscure, and then there’s obscure. Tannat and Petit Verdot, subjects of my two previous BKAG installments, are a little random, but in terms of insider cult status, they don’t hold a candle to Savagnin. (And no, that’s not a typo for “Sauvignon” — the grape is actually called Savagnin.) This white wine grape makes its home in the kind of landscapes where you would expect to catch a glimpse of Heidi yodeling and milking a cow: the French and Swiss Alps. The Savagnin-based wines you’re most likely to see in the U.S. — although, sadly, you’re not likely to see very much of them — hail from the Jura, in eastern France.
Many of these wines are, like sherry, made with deliberate oxidation. That means the winemaker intentionally, and very carefully, exposes them to oxygen during the winemaking/aging process. (Too much oxygen is usually the enemy of wine–think of how a cut apple browns when it’s exposed to air and you get the idea.) But if you carefully manage the wine’s exposure to oxygen, you get a nutty, tangy, almost salty quality to them. The fanciest and most expensive Jura wine from the Savagnin grape is called vin jaune — literally, “yellow wine.” From reputation, I know that these wines are incredibly long-lived and oddly spicy. Sadly, I have never had the opportunity to try one (although if anyone out there has a bottle in their cellar they’d like to share, don’t be afraid to drop me a line). Happily, though, I did have a chance to try this Côtes du Jura Les Chassagnes Ouillé ($28) from Phiippe Bornard, a biodynamic producer. A few things to know about this wine before you dig in: first, it has this very cool wax seal, which you can easily cut through with the little knife attachment on your corkscrew.
Second, the wine is not crystal clear. There’s definitely some cloudiness, here but it’s nothing to worry about — it’s typical of the wine style and this producer’s non-interventionist wine making approach.
The wine itself is tangy and saline, like the aftertaste of spending the day at the beach. There’s some citrus and stone fruit and honey here too, but it’s really the sherry-like twanginess that stays with you. It’s a terrific match for cheeses, particularly one of its mountain compatriots, such as Comté, or an aged Gouda.
Man, talk about a hard sell! You’re to be congratulated for featuring this wine, because, after all, any wine that is unique has something going for it in this day of generic, if solidly made, reds and whites.
That said, while I like a bit of oxidation, too — particularly, or maybe specifically, in Champagne — I can just imagine a sommelier or retailer trying to convince a customer that the “yellow (no Tail!) wine” is worth a bit of a splurge. But then again, you could probably argue that anything worth selling is worth selling by hand.
Thanks for keeping things interesting.
I know, the cloudiness + oxidation + wax seal = not exactly consumer-friendly. (I love your yellow [no tail] wine formulation!) We shared with this some friends–when I can, I try to serve a funky wine or two when guests are over, just to do my part for wine diversity.
Like fino sherry, some Jura winemaking (and all vin jaune production I believe) includes allowing the formation of a thick flor on the wine. There is a picture at ChateauChalon.com. My understanding is that this is unique among French wines.
And Todd’s point about savagnin representing a departure from generic wines brings to mind some of the more enjoyable and interesting wine tastings I have participated in, involving wines from Jura and Savoie. Lots of very well made wines from interesting grapes like poulsard and trousseau and altesse and mondeuse, and familiar grapes like chardonnay and pinot noir in unfamiliar guises.
[...] taking a step back from my last très recherché BKAG selection, Savagnin, and choosing a more mainstream variety this time. Viognier is the finest white wine grape of the [...]