I spent a fantastic morning with Stéphane Tissot, doing a short running tour of the vineyards (as he does) and then tasting the wide portfolio of his wines. Crémant is 30% of the volume in the Jura and a little less at Tissot but still quite significant. He has 50 hectares of vines and selects vineyards for the crémant and still wines, so this helps to improve the quality of the still wines. I always try to save enough time, but it's never really enough. I feel that we devoted a lot of time to the ouillé Chardonnays (which is great, because they are among the best in Jura), but then we need to rush when the vin jaune arrives, which is probably the one that needs more time to develop in the glass and show itself. Plus he's the only one currently, as far as I know, making vin jaune from different soils. I will devote a full day next time to make sure I do justice to the vin jaunes and other special wines that we tend to taste at the end and so that I don't need to run to the following appointment. Promised Stéphane!
Luis Gutierrez, Wine Advocate
Domaine Tissot Arbois Savagnin en Amphore 2016
14% abv
The Domaine, founded in the early 1960’s, is now run by Bénédicte et Stéphane Tissot. The Domaine has now grown to 45HA in Arbois and Côtes du Jura; all of which is worked to Demeter certified Biodynamic principles – what a work load, eh? Not sort on vision Bénédicte & Stéphane realise the enormous nature of their task and work alongside more than 15 full time employees. That vision is also the driving force to the domaines uniqueness, when Stéphane’s career saw him working in Brown Brothers in Oz during the 1990’s, he realised that the yeast fermenting this wine thousands of miles away from his home was the same packet of yeast his Father was using in Jura. Cometh the hour, cometh the husband and wife team; Stéphane arrived back to Jura as the region turned its back on super fruity international styles of Chardonnay and began to look for some substance in it’s past to take them forward. The cool family cellars of Domaine Tissot, in the Montigny-les-Arsureswhich, allow for slow fermentation are fitted with large, old oak casks, many from Chassin of Rully, an experimental wooden fermentation vat from Stockinger of Austria, and five clay amphorae. These factors allow for a range of peculiar styles to be produced, all with as little interference from the winemaker as possible!
What a delicious, thought-provoking cuvée this is! The grapes hail from a single, 20-year-old parcel of vines on clay soils in the appellation of Arbois. After harvest, they are macerated for four months in 420-litre amphorae. The wine is then transferred to barrel for three months’ maturation prior to bottling without filtration or SO2. The result is a fascinating bouquet – including aromas of marmalade and dried herbs – and a tannic, grippy mouthfeel, more akin to a red wine than a conventional white. Drink now to 2023.
- Reference #:
- 11305
- Strength
- 14 ABV
- Bottles per Case
- 6 bottles
- Organic
- Yes
- Biodynamic
- Yes
- Vegan
- Yes
- Vegetarian
- Yes
- Sparkling
- No
