Introduction
Tucked between Burgundy and Switzerland, the Jura wine region has risen from near-obscurity to become a cult favorite among sommeliers, collectors, and natural wine lovers around the world. Once known only to locals and a handful of French insiders, Jura is now a fixture on the wine lists of top restaurants in New York, London, Copenhagen, and Tokyo. So, what’s all the fuss? Why Jura all of a sudden?
Jura’s owes its rise to this unique blend of artisanal traditions and a new generation of boundary-pushing vignerons who have revived the region’s reputation with a focus on terroir expression, minimal intervention, and thrillingly original wines. Here are the reasons why the region is cool and will only get cooler among advanced wine collectors:
- Jura is Burgundy reloaded. Chardonnay and Pinot are among the main grape varieties, check. Domaines are small, artisanal, family owned, check. Single grape and terroir specific wines are made, check. Quantities are tiny leading to treasure hunts, check.
- If you like Pinot and Chardonnay wait until you taste Poulsard, Trousseau and Savagnin. These three grapes are different interpretations of the same theme. Complex, racy, fresh, fragrant. I will describe them in more detail below.
- Jura is a natural wine, cool climate, heaven. I have served 700+ military days in the Swiss Jura, the other side of the hill and know how rural this place is. Beaune feels like a metropolis compared to Arbois. When you go, be prepared to see lots of farms, cows, forest and hills. Despite being a relatively wet region, Jura has pioneered natural and biodynamic wine making. It must be because in such a rural place, people naturally gravitate towards artisanal methods that lead to idiosyncratic outcomes. Also, Pierre Girardin, who makes wine here as well, told me that because of the absence of monoculture farming, the vines are very healthy here and some 100 years old.
- Jura is a beneficiary of global warming. Jurais cooler than Burgundy. Since the vineyards are surrounded by grassland, forest, hills, it cools things down. In the past it was hard to ripen grapes at times, but now with global warming, Jura is in a sweet spot.
Benjamin Benoit, 2021 Jura wine maker of the year, arriving on his tractor in Pupillin – Arbois located in a small basin with its medieval church
Grape varieties
Let’s start with the two whites.
Chardonnay (43% of plantings, a large part is used for Cémant as well) made in Jura is similar to Burgundy with a touch more acidity and minerality due to the cooler climate. More Chablis than Meursault. Also, the best producers are leaning towards the flinty, Coche style. Ganevat and Labet are famous for it, Cellier Saint-Benoit an up and coming name.
Savagnin (25%) is the signature white grape of the region, coming from the Traminer family. If made as a “normal” wine (called ouillé) which means the barrel has been kept full at all times so no oxidation can happen, then it really dazzles. A Chardonnay on steroids! It can feel like a blend of Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay. Lots of acidity (more than Chardonnay), ample mid palate presence, phenolic grip, green and yellow fruit. I wish my home country Switzerland would use this grape more often to make quality whites instead of the measly Chasselas and Müller-Thurgau aka Riesling-Sylvaner. I had a high end version of Pierre Overnoy / Emmanuel Houillon when I was there the last time and it was dazzling indeed.
Arriving with a bottle of Dom Perignon and Lafite Rothschild is like driving an Audi or wearing a Rolex. You have money – but you have nothing to say. Arrive with a bottle of Ploussard from Pierre Overnoy and the wine conversation is afoot.
The red wines of Jura are equally distinctive, built around three indigenous grapes.
Poulsard (12%) also spelled Ploussard, is pale in color but intensely aromatic, with notes of crushed red berries, dried flowers, and earth – a wine of delicacy rather than power 11-12% Alc. A paler and lighter version of Pinot, often more reductive, funky. If Aalto PS and Super Tuscans is where you currently are on your vine journey, no need to apply, but if you are a Pinot nut, Poulsard is your next big thing. Pierre Overnoy, Ganevat, Domaine de la Borde (Jules Bénard), Domaine des Mirroirs (Kenji Kagami) are well known for this. Prices can be four digits, that is how good and rare this stuff is.
Trousseau (8%) offers more structure and depth than Poulsard, but it is still lighter than Pinot (!), with spicier, darker fruit and greater ageability, especially when grown on warmer, gravelly soils. It is often funky, reductive and fragrant just like Poulsard, so wine making and terroir plays a role as well. Puffeney (retired), Pignier, Gahier, Stephane Tissot, Lucien Aviet and Julien Crinquand are well known for this variety.
Finally, Pinot Noir (12%), long present in the region, has gained new recognition thanks to careful vineyard work and sensitive vinification, producing wines that are light, precise, and often startlingly Burgundian in style. Together, these varieties form the soulful, highly individual palette of Jura. Some Domaines also produce a Jura red blend which combines the three. Ganevat and Pelican among others have fine samples of Pinot.
A selection of Jura wines of different grapes and styles
Wine styles
If you don’t like Vin Jaune or Sherry, I have good news for you: Vin Jaune is only 3.5% of total production. The other sous voile whites, I call them medium-oxidative wines, are ca. 10%, the rest is “normal” wine. The rough split of total wine production in Jura is: Crémant 43%, reds 20%, normal whites 25%, oxidative whites 12%.
The oxidatives wines, especially the Vin Jaune, 6 years and 3 months in barrel under a veil of yeast like Sherry, bottled in the 0.62l Clavelin shaped bottles, are of course an icon of Jura and they pair well with the local Comté cheese. However, its walnut, curry and acetaldehyde aromas are not for the faint hearted. What I like about the Jura rendition is that it is not fortified and Savagnin has more acidity than Palomino, making the Jura oxidative whites fresher and lighter. My recommendation for new-to-this-style consumers is to ask for oxidative wines that have been sous voile only for a few years, not the whole six. They usually come under the following names:
- Tradition
- Most common term.
- Usually a blend of Savagnin and Chardonnay
- Aged under a veil (sous voile) for 2–4 years, less than Vin Jaune.
- Mild oxidative character: nutty, spicy, curry-like, but fresher and more approachable.
- Savagnin (sous voile)
- Sometimes the label simply states “Savagnin”, but the winemaker specifies that it was aged oxidatively (e.g. 3 years sous voile).
- If not labeled “ouillé,” and aged in barrel without topping up, it’s often assumed to be oxidative.
- Cuvée Spéciale or Réserve
- These are non-official, producer-specific terms that imply longer or traditional élévage.
- Often aged oxidatively but not long enough or not eligible for Vin Jaune.
- Macle’s “Cuvée Spéciale”, for example, is a classic oxidative style, but not Vin Jaune.
- Savagnin Typé
- Used occasionally by traditional producers to signal a “typical” oxidative style, i.e. nutty, spicy, and aged under veil — but again, not Vin Jaune.
The Comté museum- well worth a visit
Food
Let me finish off this small Jura primer with a word on the cheese. Hey, as a Swiss I have to comment on the cheese, don’t I. Comté is of course the star here. After all, the whole region is named after it – Bourgogne-Franche-Comté is the official regional name of Jura and Burgundy. Comté is a hard cheese, stylistically similar to Gruyère but with its own, unique aroma profile. Like Gruyère it comes in different age categories, the older the more complex, the funkier. In Poligny, the spiritual center of Comté, there is a museum designated to Comté, called Maison du Comté and if offers a fun and informative self guided tour that finishes with a tasting.
Marc Janin (MOF) in his cheese store in Champignol
I had a great meal at the Hotel Château de Germigney in Port-Lesney (member of the Relais Chateau group) and when the cheese selection came, I loved it so much that I asked where all these gems were sourced from. They came from nobody less then Marc Janin the only Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF) in Jura in the category crémier-affineur. I decided to stop by in his shop in Champagnole which he runs in the 5th generation. He was there in person and we had a lovely chat. Well worth a visit as it is practically on the route back to Switzerland.
Finally, if you want to dive deeper into the wines of Jura, the standard literature is written by Wink Lorch.
Autor: Christian Raubach, WSET3, FWS, WSG Champagne Master
June 2025