Now with extra muris

Château d’Arlay 2000 Vin Issu de Raisins Surmuris (Jura) – A declassified macvin (I was told the whys of it by the producer, but other than a vague memory that it was rejected as atypical I’m not certain of the reason). Powerfully, intensely, tooth-infusingly sweet. If I may deliberately misappropriate the French name, this really does taste like raisins. Hyper-ripe dates, as well, drizzled with molasses and with the scent of pine sap lingering somewhere in the background. It’s pretty amazing stuff, but a very little bit goes an extremely long way. (8/11)

Dame Dench

Puffeney 2006 Arbois Poulsard “M” (Jura) – Fetid and faded, bringing a collection of vague stenches and lingering miasmas together for no apparent purpose. I’m going to conclude that this is a bad bottle, because it’s impossible to conceive that this is how it was intended to taste. (1/11)

Noy-ha-ha

Overnoy 2005 Arbois Pupillin (Jura) – Loaded with bretty stench (or maybe it’s reductive; frankly, I’m thirteen jibs to the sheet by this point in the evening and could be drinking stealth Franzia for all that I know, yet my notes indicate surety that there’s brettanomyces, and I probably shouldn’t second-guess. One will either be able to get past that or not. The wine underneath the assreek has the sort of breezy power that lovers of syrupy wines don’t think something this light can actually have. Well, they’re wrong. Potentially fabulous, if one is not sensitive to whatever’s stinking up the joint, or if there’s bottle variation…which isn’t exactly unheard of at this house. (11/10)

Semi-Chamade

Bornard 2007 Arbois Pupillin Ploussard “La Chamade” (Jura) – Delicate and sweetly pretty, like a country girl in gingham and braids, or perhaps a Norman Rockwell portrait of same. Succulent. (11/10)

Choreographer

Buronfosse Crémant du Jura Rosé (Jura) – Bony, eroded, and stark, with only notions and memories to tell its story. (8/10)

Arbois-thers in arms

Tissot 2007 Arbois Poulsard “Vieilles Vignes” (Jura) – Wine geeks often express the notion that the wines of the Jura are difficult to understand (for novices, one presumes). That may be true for the whites that play in realms oxidative, but I’m less sure it’s true for the reds that don’t. This one, for example, has been plenty popular with aficionados and newbies alike, over multiple vintages. And what’s not to like? Appealing, pale red fruit of purity and lightness, paired with a delicate structure…unless one is a fan of jam, and exclusively so, it’s hard to register much negativity here. But there is a difference in the way that new and old hands approach this wine, and it’s this: first-encounterers want to gulp it. That’s a compliment, of course, but the experienced instead want to spend a lot of time poring over its details. Why? It’s the nervous trembling to the fruit, the sense of air and space within the wine, the organoleptic version of a musical silence that permits and encourages such close examination. (5/10)

Locke-d out

Bornard 2007 Arbois Pupillin Trousseau “Le Ginglet” (Jura) – Wines like this have such a small margin for error, it seems to me. The broad, brown earthiness and faded fruit is rarely more than a step away from early decrepitude, and in the wrong hands – or the wrong vintage – can easily fall over, dead. Not so here. Lithe earth laced with fruit, rather than the reverse, dusty and delicate, but with insistence and persistence. Some funk. Lots of dust. Disappears very quickly. (5/10)

Jurassic chardonnay

Petit “Domaine de la Renardière” 2006 Arbois-Pupillin Chardonnay (Jura) – Prickly, but from energy rather than acidity (though it has that, too), with a rich complexity of stony aromas (both the fruit and the rocks themselves), a light wash of oxidation that adds further complexity, a good deal of concentration, and a long finish. Very, very engaging. (7/09)

Tissot boring, oh, Tissot boring

A&M/Stéphane Tissot Crémant du Jura Brut (Jura) – Tastes like skin, and smells like the dried nut residue from a long-empty tin of peanuts. A bit stale and really, really boring. Damaged? Mildly corked? If so, there’s no sign of either. But a half-glass is more than enough. (7/09)

Puffeney the magic savagnin

Puffeney 2002 Arbois Savagnin (Jura) – “Is this sherry?” asks the first person who tastes this without knowing its identity. A very reasonable guess, though the wine’s bigger than most sherries with this particular bony profile, and there is rather more limestoney, pale green fruit – especially on the finish – than any dry sherry of my acquaintance would dare show. This achieves terrific presence and pressure without ever seeming heavy, which is quite a trick, and as each layer of intensity is peeled back, a new one emerges with ever-so-slight shifts in emphasis. Fantastic stuff. (3/09)

Star power

Gros “Domaine de Montbourgeau” 2000 l’Étoile “Cuvée Spéciale” (Jura) – Racy minerality in a wind tunnel. If there was such a thing as chalkfruit, this would have it. Intense and pear-textured (but not -flavored), with a tartness that really emerges as the wine airs. Extremely good. (12/08)

Honor & Labet

Labet 1998 Côtes du Jura Vin Jaune (Jura) – Floral (dried flowers) with white spices and juicy acidity, plus the unmistakable middle-frequency buzz of flor. Very good, though not for everyone. (2/08)