1999 Ganevat Cotes du Jura Les Vignes de Mon Pere

Domaine Ganevat has been in the Ganevat family since the 17th century. The family grew grapes, made wine and produced milk for the famous local cheeses for many generations, and only stopped producing milk to concentrate on wine in the 1970s. Jean-Francois, the current proprietor, trained at prestigious Domaine Jean-Marc Morey in Chassagne before returning to the family’s 24-acre estate in 1998. The estate is biodynamic and Ganevat uses almost no sulfur dioxide. He makes a remarkable number of cuvees each year, usually between 35 and 40, and he makes both red and white wines. Known as “Fanfan” to his friends, he is considered something of a winemaking genius by those who admire Jura wines. Wine Advocate described him like this: “I’m willing to bet that he is the most accomplished French vigneron of whom most of my readers have never heard – and I write that in humility, because until two years ago I had never heard of him either…” The majority of Ganevat’s wines are white, either Chardonnay or Savagnin, and they earn ratings in the low- to mid-90s

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.