1959 Jean Bourdy Cotes du Jura Blanc

Domaine Jean Bourdy is a 25-acre estate with vineyards in the appellations Côtes du Jura and Château-Chalon. Today brothers Jean-Philippe and Jean-Francois Bourdy represent the fifteenth generation of the Bourdy family to run the estate. Since 2006 the estate has been entirely biodynamic and it produces a full portfolio of Jura red, white, “yellow” and sparkling wines. Like some other Jura producers, Bourdy wines have a cult status among certain wine lovers. Wine Advocate has written this about the domaine: Wines from Jean-Francois Bourdy’s small cellar in Arlay have been trickling into the world’s wine markets with increasing regularity over the past decade (though there is a history of these wines in the U.S. even before World War II), causing considerable waves, an American fan club having accumulated, with buzz centering understandably around the Bourdys’ huge assortment of vintages spanning well more than a century….There can, however, be little question that Bourdy is very serious about achieving high quality the hard way.”

Jura is France’s smallest wine region, with about 4,000 acres of vineyards, and one of its least well-known. Nestled into the foothills of the Jura Mountain range on the far eastern side of central France near Switzerland, the region includes four geographic appellations. They are Arbois, Côtes du Jura, Etoile and Château-Chalon. There are also two appellations that pertain to the style of wine made, Crémant du Jura and Macvin, which is a liqueur. Jura grows Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, like its neighbor Burgundy, but is especially admired among cognoscenti for its distinctive regional grapes, which are the white grape Savagnin and the red grape Ploussard. Savagnin is the grape used for the region’s famous Vin Jaune, made from late harvest grapes and vinified somewhat in the manner of Jerez Sherry. The end result is a yellowish, somewhat nutty wine. Savagnin, known locally as Naturé, is also often blended with Chardonnay, known in Jura as Melon d’Arbois. The red grape Trousseau is also grown in Jura.