2020 Michel Gahier Chardonnay "Les Follasses", Jura, France

ABOUT THIS WINE

From 45-year-old Chardonnay planted in marne blanche (white marl), “Follasses” is topped up in cask, but nonetheless delivers an unhinged expression of saline complexity. The marl here—a layer of decomposed limestone mixed with clay—pre-dates the limestone that dominates Burgundy’s Cote d’Or, and it is this marl (in varying iterations of color and mineral composition) that dominates the terroir of the Jura.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

The Gahier family has been resident in the Jura since 1525. The family domaine is 6.5 hectares with the vineyards concentrated in the village of Montigny-les-Arsures, the place recognized as the home of Trousseau. Michel Gahier has learned from the best. Gahier is a neighbor and friend of Jacques Puffeney, both living in Montigny-les-Arsures, a viticultural district that is acknowledged to produce some of the finest wines of the Arbois appellation. His observations and ongoing dialogue with Puffeney have instilled skills and sensibility that produce undeniably outstanding wines that clearly express the very particular terroir of this corner of the Jura.

Gahier harvests and vinifies his wines parcel by parcel. Each wine ultimately is derived exclusively from a single vineyard site. The viticulture is organic (although not “certified”). The wines, both white and red, are aged in old foudres and barrel. The wines are bottled without filtration.