2019 Benedicte et Stephane Tissot Arbois La Tour de Curon Le Clos

Bénédicte et Stéphane Tissot is the label used for wines that formerly were labeled Domaine André et Mireille Tissot. André and Mireille founded the Arbois estate in 1962 and their son Stéphane learned his winemaking craft in Australia and South Africa before taking over the family estate in 1990. He now runs it with his wife Bénédicte. The estate became entirely organic in 1999 and entirely biodynamic in 2004. Stéphane and Bénédicte have worked to make the wines of Jura, and their estate, better known internationally and the couple now exports about half of what they produce. Due to technical legal reasons, some of their wines are still produced under Stéphane’s parents’ names. Like some other game-changing producers in the Jura, the domaine has long avoided the addition of sulfur, or has at least used very little sulfur. The domaine produces 28 wines, including Chardonnay, Savagnin, and Trousseau and sparkling Crémant.

Arbois is the appellation d’Origin Contrôlée for the wine region around the town of Arbois in Jura. Red and white wines are made in the appellation. 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.

This white variety originated in Burgundy, but is now grown around the world. Its flexibility to thrive in many regions translates to wide flavor profile in the market. Chardonnay is commonly used in making Champagne and sparkling wines.