2006 Philippe Bornard Cotes du Jura Les Chassagnes, ouille;
An Exotic French Mountain Wine
July 13, 2011
Vin Jaune (yellow wine) is one of France's most exotic. Made in the eastern Jura mountains, it is aged in like sherry in wooden barrels under the film of flor, the yeast that gives Fino sherry its distinctive nutty yeastiness. It is very rare and expensive and is an acquired taste for very sophisticated palates.
Some growers make a similar wine without the flor.. Although grower Philippe Bornard is from an old family of growers, he only began bottling his own wine in 2005. He calls air-aged wine from his Les Chassagnes vineyard, ouille, oily, referring to its density, not its texture or flavor. It is a fascinating wine, bone dry, very very rich, but totally relying on its complex oxidation, its mineral, and its acid for interest. Not a whiff of oak.The Revue calls Bornard a winemaker to watch. This is a wine to savor with very rich and/or herbed foods.
2006 Philippe Bornard Cotes du Jura Les Chassagnes, ouille; Color: medium gold; Aroma: rather nutty, rich, & intense, spicy, light acid very yeasty; Mouth: thick rather rich low acid, very dense & yeasty, firm, spicy acid, rather dusty, clean very rich; Very Good - Excellent 39.99; Mixed Case, 35.99; Case, 33.99
Also arrived:
2003 Domaine la Tournelle Vin Jaune 71.99; Mixed Case, 64.79; Case, 61.19