JURA

Jura is not as famous as Bourgogne or Alzace. It is therefore less popular too.
However, apart of most beautiful scenery, she offers its top rarities and delicacies: Le Vin Jaune, Le Vin de Paille, as well as famous Comté hard cheese.
The Jura is a bucolic green bowl between Burgundy and Switzerland, where the patchwork of vineyards and hayfields is occasionally interrupted by a village of tile- roofed houses or a herd of cows. Roads came fairly late to the region; canals never did. So the Jura evolved, like the marsupials of Australia, in relative isolation, which permitted the planting of grapes like Savagnin, Ploussard and Trousseau that are grown almost nowhere else, made into wines with techniques that in most places would be regarded as downright peculiar.
Even in France, the wines of the Jura are little known, but they are as distinctive as any in the world.
In a world of smooth, rounded, velvet-lined wines, they stand out as jagged and resolute, like many of the most interesting winemakers.The leading whites have a nutty, sherry-like aroma that many people regard as hopelessly oxidized, but they are actually tangy, complex, pure and delicious. The best reds barely have enough color to be called red. They are delicate and graceful, yet with an earthy intensity that can stand up to the smelliest of cheeses. Almost singularly among wine regions, the reds are usually served before the whites in the Jura because they are lighter in texture.

VIN JAUNE:
The region's most profound wine, is legendary Vin Jaune (yellow wine). Many wine connoiseurs believe that it is one of the best white wines all over the world. If not the best one.
The Savagnin grapes are harvested late and then aged in small oak barrels for a minimum of 6 years and 3 months (although some producers age their Vin Jaune for up to 10 years). As the barrels are always slightly porous, considerable portion - nearly 40% - of the wine therefore evaporates over the years of ageing (the so called "angels share"). This maturation method, similiar to that used in Spain for fino sherry, allows the wine to acquire its distinct flavors, characteristic of walnut, almond, spice and apple. Vin Jaune is best appreciated after at least 10 years in bottle and has the ability, in good vintages, to age fo century or longer.
Even lovers of Vin Jaune sometimes describe its flavor as "rancid walnut", yet this wine is an unmatched partner of regional specialities like chicken with cream sauce and morels, and of course Comté, the famous cheese of the Jura.
This unique wine is bottled in a unique bottle, squat with a deep punt, called clavelin. Each clavelin has a capacity of 62 cl. (0,62 litres) - based on the fact that for every litre of newly made wine put into barrel, just 62 centilitres is left after nearly 6,5 years of ageing. Vin Jaune is the only wine allowed to be sold in France in a bottle of this capacity, while as this unusual bottle size is not sanctioned by the american government, the wine is hard to find in the United States that, a pity since the saline, mineral force of this wine is extraordinary.

VIN de PAILLE:
Le Vin de Paille (straw wine, or raisin wine), is a wine made from grapes that have been dried to concentrate their juice. The classic method dries clusters of grapes on mats of straw in the sun, but some regions dry them under cover, some hang up the grapes, and the straw may be replaced by modern racks. The technique dates back to pre-Roman times, and most production of these wines has been in Northern Italy and the French Alps. Straw wines are typically sweet to very sweet white wines, similar in density and sweetness to Sauternes and capable of long life. The low yields and labour-intensive production method means that they are quite expensive.

ARBOIS:
Historical town of Arbois, birth place of Louis Pasteur, is regarded as wine and culinary capital of Jura. Little town of character, classified as considerable place of taste under the auspices of National Council of Culinary Arts.