Percée du Vin Jaune 2004 (Jura)

###Click here for the Percée du Vin Jaune 2007###

Welcome to Cramans , which hosted on february 7-8 2004 the " Percée du Vin Jaune " , a ritual ceremony that goes well with this authentic Jura wine . Cramans is a village with a population of 429, and is located in the Jura departement, not far from Arc et Senans. Each year a different village is chosen to host the 2-day festivity. First , it must be said that the Jura wines owe much to Henri Maire , a Jura wine producer who died last november (2003) and who, beginning in the 1940's and 1950's, and for the rest of his life did a tremendous work to keep the Jura wines quality high, organise rules and make these wines known outside of the region ...

The Jura wine region is one of the smallest wine regions in France. The "Vin Jaune" accounts for 7% of the wines produced in this region but its aura is much bigger. This emblematic wine, made with the Savagnin grape variety, is aged 6 years and 3 months in 228-liter casks. In other parts of France, wine is usually added regularly in the casks to replace the wine that evaporated through the wood, to prevent the oxydation of wine. With the Vin Jaune, nothing is added at all and although a sizable pocket of air develops in the casks, the quality of the wine is not altered. The wine grows a sort of veil at the surface, which contains bacterias and which sort of protects the wine from oxydation. After 6 years and 3 months at minimum (some keep it longer in casks), the casks are open and the wine is bottled. The first cask from the harvest 6 years earlier is pierced (percée) after a ceremony in a Jura church, and subsequently poured to the multitude who came for the occasion : That is what is called "la Percée du Vin Jaune".
This year it happens in Cramans, next year it will be in another village. During these two days, the place fills up with joyous people from different generations, mostly from surrounding Jura, and also from neighboring Burgundy. This year the weather was very cold and rainy, but people were nonetheless exuberant and happy to be there and to drink not only from the "holy cask", but from other Jura wines, as many producers were present in the village to let people taste and discover their production.

In the tiny church, the mass is underway. Behind in red : The "Commanderie des Nobles Vins du Jura et du Comté " The Comté is a famous Jura cheese . The Cask that will be pierced in the following ceremony outside the church is kept in front of the altar .
Here and there , you can add some good food to your drinking experience. Also a good way to hide from the sometimes furious rainstorms in the freezing winter temperatures. But even when the rain thunders outside and makes people run for shelter, you a lot of laughs and "bonne humeur" around ... Producers had each a place to offer their wine. We had a hard time reaching the tables most of the time, but once there, we could taste the "Vin Jaune" (I never disliked the ones I tasted ) or the other Jura wines, reds, whites, "vins de paille" ...


This is the time ! After the mass , the cask ( la piece ) is carried out to be pierced and drank among the people present
The "Commanderie des Nobles Vins du Jura et du Comté"< ./center> You see that they indeed carry a Comté cheese and a bottle of Jura wine , while leaving the small church behind the cask ... The Commanderie had a role in convincing the European Council in Brussels to authorize the " clavelin" in the 1990's, a unique bottle size, only found in the Jura , which is a 62 cl bottle, and in which the Vin Jaune is sold. It is said that it was hard to convince Brussels to allow this exception from the 75 cl or 50 cl bottle sizes , but that they were convinced partly by the generous cheese that the Commanderie brought to the european parliament, and by their passionate lobbying . Sorry , no picture of "la Percée" . It will be a reason to see it yourself next year . It was in the open , raining in freezing temperatures and so crowded , plus we were'nt in the right angle . But here is the pic of actual wine coming from the cask ! We kept our glass a moment to both enjoy it and warm it before drinking ... The vin jaune has a golden color and I'll not describe how it tastes . It's just good .

Warmful ambiance everywhere . Some also brought their own bottles (Jura wine , of course!)along , not to be in shortage... Practical information : When you get to the village , you pay 9 euros , you are given a special glass (it's yours, you can bring it home) and

Comments

[un cramanter]

cramans is in Jura departement not in Doubs!!!!!

[Bertrand]

Thanks , Cramanter , shame on me ! I'll correct it right away !