Label: Domaine des Marnes Blanches
Vintage: NV
Fruit: Chardonnay
Region: Jura, France
ABV:
bright sun / poem rocket / hypnotize me
Domaine des Marnes Blanches' greatest asset isn't necessarily the chalky limestone and fossil-rich soils on which they grow their grapes — rather, it's the passionate and talented winemakers/owners, husband-and-wife team Pauline and Géraud Fromont. They're Jura natives who farm about 10 hectares in the southern part of the region, the Sud Revermont, where they produce many cuvées from old vines of indigenous varieties. They focus on biodiversity, they work with solely native yeasts and often experiment with single-parcel or sans soufre bottlings.
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Pauline and Géraud are both from the Jura and come from families who have always worked around vines and agriculture. They met in viticultural school and started the estate in 2006, when they were just 25 years old. Fast forward [20] years: they now manage around 12 hectares in Sud Revermont (the Southernmost part of the Jura, where their neighbors are Ganevat and Labet) in the villages of Cesancey, Sainte-Agnès, and Vincelles. The estate takes its name from the white marl soils, but sites also include red marl, limestone, and gryphées (seashell fossils). They make reds, whites (primarily non-oxidative), sparkling, vin jaune, and vin de paille. Farming organically since the beginning, they are focused on hyper-specific Jura wines with each parcel being vinified separately (fermented in stainless steel and aged in used barrels).
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The Jura, though small, is a region with countless amazing (and often impossible to find) producers and Pauline and Géraud still stand out within this category. The region is slowly changing, and the fact that winemakers like these two remain is a testament to their commitment and loyalty to the area. The Jura, which has been idolized for the past two decades now, is seeing a subtle decline in generational estates and, for the first time, individuals from outside the region have the opportunity to lease and purchase vineyards. And yet the Fromonts are not yielding to this pressure: they're planting more (in 2012, they planted another site of Savagnin that just last year they saw yields from in their Aux Bois bottling). Currently, they're working with vines up to 80 years old; investments like new plantings are serious reflections of their faith in their region and future generations. Their wines are intended to be a clean and clear representation of place. And we think they do it pretty damn well.