Domaine de la Tournelle (Jura)

Pascal Clairet - going down to the cellar Arbois (Jura)
If you ever dream of a small cute French town nestled in a hilly and forested landscape, with vineyards around on the slopes to complete the picture, Arbois is for you, you will enjoy the fresh air coming from the mountains, a beautiful medieval architecture with cobblestone streets, kind and civilized people and terrific wines... If you look for an opportunity to visit the city, go to the Jura for the next Percée du vin Jaune on february 5th and 6th 2011, this will take place in Arbois (not the same town every year). There aren't many tourists actually then (maybe it's too cold), mostly locals and people from neighboring regions including Germany and Switzerland, which makes this wine festival one of the most authentic I took part to. This N.Y. Times article paints what seems to me a very honest picture of Arbois and its life (and the writer (Anne Glusker) even wrote a few words about the Domaine de la Tournelle at the end of her article).
And whatever time of the year you choose to come in Arbois, you shouldn't miss the small estate managed by Evelyne & Pascal Clairet, the Domaine de la Tournelle, which sits in the middle of the old town. They set up shop a few years ago but their wines have already a good following. they have been farming organic for many years but they only got the certification recently, 2010 is their first year with the organic-farming and biodynamic certifications. Farming organic is one thing, but almost as important, they vinify their wines without additives, except some SO2 (and not for all their wines).

Arbois, from the road going to Pupillin Evelyne and Pascal Clairet haven't a long family history regarding winemaking behind them. Their small estate was founded in 1991 with the renting of a small vineyard; 1991 was a tough year in France, with extended frost damages on the vines, people in the trade speak of the gel du siècle (frost of the century), and Pascal didn't harvest much grapes that year. At the beginning, Pascal Clairet kept his day job to make a living, he worked at the Chambre d'Agriculture, a state structure overlooking the farming sector, and he quit this job in 1995 to work full time in the wine trade. Evelyne worked initially in the Rhone valley, she was employed at the Syndicat des Côtes du Rhone, an administration overlooking the wineries of this region, she was a terchnician there. At the beginning, the facility was based in a business suburb outside Arbois, with a small rented vineyard, only Chardonnay basically. Along the years, other vineyards and plantings were added, Savagnin, Trousseau, Poulsard, ending up with making 7 hectares today. As they didn't have a formal training in the field, they went to the wine school to get a Degree of technicien en oenologie. But they also learnt a lot from fellow vignerons and from tasting many different wines, Pierre Overnoy was an important inspirator for Pascal who decided to make also topped-up Savagnin. They tasted and keep tasting wines from vignerons of other regions, the Rhone valley, the Loire for example. Evelyne and Pascal Clairet Unlike many vignerons couples, Evelyne Clairet holds a real role in the decision making and the winemaking in general, they both taste and make choices in regard to what they think of the juice and wine. I asked Evelyne about the challenge of making wine in the Jura : she says that first, it's a very small wine region, with only 2000 hectares of vineyard (1% of the French total), second, it's a too-litttle-known wine region, including in France, which is an obstacle when you want to sell to non-geek buyers outside of Jura. Also, this region, while having only 4 official varieties in the Appellation (5 if you include Pinot Noir which is allowed as accessory), can make many more different wines because of different vinification types (dry, liquoreux, sparkling, veil...) and it's common to see a winery offer 12 different cuvées.
The The slow growing in surface at Domaine de la Tournelle allowed them to find their customers because as they started from scratch, they had to create their customer base, and they increased their surface in time with their sales and market. They didn't have family money to finance their venture and they didn't want to owe high mortgages to the bank, so the solution was to grow slowly. At the beginning for example they produced 7000 bottles only (in 1995), and the output grew steadily to today's 30/35 000 bottles annually. Pascal Clairet drives to his vineyards (the slopes in the background) On this picture above, you can guess Pascal Clairet's 4X4 vehicule on the bottom right as he drives just outside Arbois to some of the vineyards which lie just under these woods. Pascal and Evelyne don't want to grow over this size of about 7 hectares, that's a vineyard surface that they can manage themselves without hiring permanent workers. Today they sell without problem the wines that they produce, without accumulating stocks. They are not in a hurry to find new markets and they can concentrate on the quality of their wines. Because of their lean production, they feel that the estate reached the right size. They shared the work between themselves beginning in 2000, after Evelyne who was until 1999 still working in the Rhone, came in Arbois to rejoin Pascal. Their prime investments were for the tools needed to work in the vineyards, the tractor, the plowing blades and so on. They worked organicly from 2000 but they didn't ask for the certification right away, they ended up asking for an organic certification in 2007 because they wanted to join a biodynamic-farming group, and for that they needed first a "regular" organic-farming certification. Pascal Clairet in the vineyard (the Curon terroir - 40 years old) Regarding the vineyard, they keep grass on every other row so that the tractor can drive in the vineyard even when the ground is wet. Because of the marl and clay soil, they wouldn't be able to use the tractor for some time after the rain, which would be a problem. they cut of course this grass regularly.
While not yet certified biodynamic, they're already into th is viticultural mode for several years (since 2007) with dynamised sprayings that they prepare with special vats and so on. In the Jura, there are several other vignerons working with biodynamy, like Overnoy, Stéphane Tissot, Ganevat and a few others. Asked about the disease risks in the Jura, as this region seems to be very green and more rainy than, say, the Rhone or the south, Evelyne says that actually she considers Jura as being healthier than the Rhone, where she was a technician dealing with vine diseases. There may be more mildew but definitely less grape worms which are a problem further south. For example on their estate the only special issue they have to face is the containment of grass, which they only do with mechanic means like plowing or cutting. The grass means that the surface has lots of water but as they plow, the roots look for deeper soils and they don't have excessive load weight or watery grapes. . The cellar They invested in the cellar (picture) with a house above it in the center of Arbois in 1995. The cellar was used from then on to raise the wines, it's a deep, high-ceiling vaulted cellar, a marvel by itself. They've kept another surface facility outside Arbois (in St Cyr Montmalin) for the early vinification , that's where the harvested grapes arrive and where they keep their vats and the press. The vaulted cellar was large enough until 2003, then they purchased another cellar in Arbois for their élevage wines. They hadn't particularly increased the vineyard surface but as they stopped making for example a single cuvée of Chardonnay with the blended terroirs and in the place initiated different cuvées with each terroir, all the while keeping wines longer in the cellar. Their Chardonnay Curon for example had its élevage time going up up from 24 months to 30 months, which also translated into more cellar room.
They harvest by hand, and they manage to have the grape clusters intact, without bleeding grapes. What they do is avoid the bucket use : each picker puts his grapes in a comporte which is a mid-size (20 kilograms) container, and this comporte is placed on a sledge that he pulls when he picks the next vine. The Sledge also helps to isolate the container from the ground and from the mud and other impurities. When the container is full, someone brings it to a trailer at the end of the row. The grape load will then go directly to the press (if it's a white), which limits the possibility of damaging the grapes.
For 2 years, they have been using a pneumatic press, before it was a non-pneumatic horizontal one, but they used it manually anyway.
The whites are pressed whole-clusterd and the juice goes into vats for its alcoholic fermentation. Only wild yeasts for the fermentation, which begins sometimes early, sometimes after a few days. This year it took 6 days to start on average, but last year it was 8... They protect the wine with CO2 during the waiting time. They check the temperature but usually they don't have to intervene (to cool the juice down for example). This year the temp went up to a maximum of 22°C or 23°C so they let it that way. Very quickly after the ferm began (when it reaches a density of 1040 or 1060), they bring the juice to the cellar in Arbois with a special transport vat and they fill the casks where it continues to ferment quietly. The malo ferm wil usually take place thereafter and the wine stays in there for 2 years on its lees, without rackings. About batonnage or stirring of the lees, it depends, they do it for certain vintages, they decide after tasting only. What they look for is minerality and 6 months is not enough to get it, so patience is important and they made the choice to raise the wines for 2 years. The casks are not new, and they buy used casks in Burgundy (Givry), the youngest being 3 or 4 wines old.
After the élevage, they blend in foudres a few months before bottling. Pascal Clairet in the cellar For the Poulsard, this year, they destemmed all the grapes by hand with a special table with holes in it where the grapes get swiftly separated from the stem by a manual movement. They have also a machine that can destem rapidly but they prefer to use this manual way as the grapes remains intact. With these Poulsard grapes, they made a semi-carbonic maceration, as opposed with a carbonic maceration where whole clusters are used. They stomp the cap twice with the feet, but lightly, without excess. They use fiber vats for these carbonic or semi-carbonic macerations. This will last about 3 weeks each time, they blend the two juices, except if the vat juice has already largely begun its malolactic fermentation, in this case, they'll keep the 2 apart until the malo fermentations are completed. If they didn't take this precaution and blended a juice in the middle of its malo with another juice full of sugar, the volatile could go up very quickly, Evelyne says.
Speaking of their Vin Jaune, they also use wild yeasts. As I wrote in a previous post, while I was aware that most wines in France are made with lab yeasts, somehow I thought (without really thinking focusely on the details) that all the Vin Jaune veil wines (I mean including the ones of the "conventional" wineries) were made naturally, that is with a veil and micro-organisms sprouting from the atmosphere of the cellar. Actually, for this type of wines like for any other wines, conventional wineries use ready-made yeasts which are specially fit for this type of veil. There is of course usually no communication on these issues because it would deprive the Vin Jaune from much of its magic. Here at La Tournelle, they don't add any lab yeasts and this veil appears by itself after a while as the wine evaporates slowly through the wood of the cask. Evelyne says that this veil took time to appear on the wine in the first year, but once it's in the cask, these yeasts stay there and when they put a new wine it, they don't rinse or clean this cask so that the natural yeasts can continue their job with the newly-arrived Savagnin. The stairs to the cellar About the SO2, they don't use much, but they can use some if they feel that the wine needs some stabilization. They make tests with exposing the wine to the air for 24 hours, and if the wine doesn't move which is often the case, they don't add SO2. The fact that the wine has been staying for 2 years quietly in a cask helps probably and there is usually little risk for a bad surprise when the wine is exposed to the air. But by security, they make this test with the air and decide after. They usually don't add SO2 on the grapes in the press if the grapes are healthy and there is no rot. The way they pick and transport the grapes carefully, they don't have oxydation because they manage to bring intact grape clusters to the chai, so in this regard there is no need to correct the damaged grapes with sulphur. But if the season brought a lot of rotten grapes in the clusters, they might add sulphur at this stage, but it's always less than 20 mg total, which means quite nothing in free sulfur. For example, their cuvée Uva Arbosiana (a 100% Ploussard red) has no SO2 at all, and it's by the way very lightly perly for this reason.
Their Vin de Paille is also SO2 free : the grapes (Chardonnay/Ploussard/Savagnin) are harvested in september then go dry for 3 to 6 months, not on straw but on metal and wood grids (in a barn), then they're pressed and put to ferment on wild yeasts in casks. The wine ends up with 180 gr to 200 gr of residual sugar.
Beautiful unfiltered PoulsardWe sit around the table in the tasting room.
__ Domaine de la Tournelle Arbois Uva Arbosiana 2009. 100% Ploussard. No cap punching or pumping over. 4 months and a half in foudres, bottled in april. There's a bit of gaz in there they say, 1100 mg of CO2, keeps the wine safe without SO2. Usually, the amount of CO2 is like 400 or 500 mg. Very fruity, easy-to-drink wine.
__ Domaine de la Tournelle Arbois Trousseau des Corvées 2008. One year in foudres, destemmed but not stomped. Vinified in fiber vats. The malolactic was completed, they raised the temperature of the vat room for that.
__ Domaine de la Tournelle Trousseau des Corvées 2009. Some reduction on the nose. Bottled 2 months ago, still young wine. Very very pleasant wine in the mouth, a real pleasure, you just eat that wine with delight. Forget the nose and enjoy the drink. Very different from the 2008. they have 1 % of the planted Trousseau (there's 100 hectares of Trousseau in the Jura, that's very small).
__ Domaine de la Tournelle Arbois Chardonnay Terres des Gryphées 2007. Chardonnay has been planted in jura since the 12th century, it taste different here because the soil has a particular minerality. Fermentation begins in vats, then during the fermentation, the wine goes into 220-liter old casks. Topping up, no SO2 during the élevage, sometimes in the press, only if they feel it necessary (damaged grapes) with 3 grams per hectoliter dosage. Aged on its lees but without oxydation. This wine makes 12,5°. Very nice nose. The Chard grows on the same soil than their Savagnin. Unique feel in the mouth, character and minerality, a good acidity. This wine sure has a long laying down potential.
__ Domaine de la Tournelle Arbois Les Corvées sous Curo 2007. Other soil and terroir here, blue marl. Nose of ripe fruits, opulent aromas. Freshness felt on the nose too. Stayed 3 years in the cellar, long keep wine. Crisp mouth, elegant. 12,5°. Burgundy oak used here, old casks, no vanilla notes sought. That's the Chard I prefer, I think.
__ Domaine de la Tournelle Fleur de Savagnin 2008. Topped-up Savagnin. They do this wine since 1994, from a vineyard that Pascal planted in 1991. Very, very beautiful wine, neat, mineral, refined. Lots of class.
__ Domaine de la Tournelle Arbois Chardonnay Terres des Gryphées 1999. Reduction on the nose. Aromas of toasted bread. The smoky side of flint stone, silex. They're going to change the corks of their old vintages (the reserve that they keep for checking).
__ Domaine de la Tournelle Chardonnay de Voile 2006. Veil wine, not topped up. 3 years under veil in the cask. Some sort of second wine compared to Vin Jaune, as it did not complete its 6 years and 3 months of veil time. Very enjoyable mouth, length. Light and fresh wine.
__ Domaine de la Tournelle Vin Jaune 2003. What a mouth ! Super length with intensity. So refined and fresh, I love that.
__ Domaine de la Tournelle Vin de Paille 2004. Grapes dried several months in a barn for concentration. Aromas of quince, pear. Made with Ploussard, Savagnin and Chardonnay on indigenous yeast too. No SO2. 180 grams residual sugar, but so well balanced.
__ Domaine de la Tournelle Macvin. 60% Chardonnay-grape juice (unfermented) blended with their own alcohol, and the alcohol has spent prior to that 3 years in oak to be less agressive. Usually it's 18 months but they increased this time to 3 years. Makes a total of 5 years to make this blend. 18° alcohol.

Evelyne opened in 2006 a seasonal venue (june to september), the Bistrot de la Tournelle in Arbois on back side of their house along the Cuisance, the quiet river that runs through the town. You can enjoy the wines of la Tournelle and eat a few charcuteries along the medieval walls in the shadow of a couple of trees. Some people would like the bistrot to stay open around the year but she needs to be active in the winery and the vineyard the rest of the year, so it closes from early september to june.

Evelyne and Pascal Clairet have 4 children, who help already occasionally in the vineyard or at labelling...
50 % of the wines are sold to individual buyers at the cellar or through shipping. The export share is about 30 % with the United Kingdom (Dynamic Vines, Les Caves de Pyrène), the United States (Joli Vin, Jenny & François), Denmark (Pétillant), Canada (Quebec - Balthazar, British Columbia - Racine Wine Import), Japan (The Vine), Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Hong-Kong (in smaller volumes). Domaine de la Tournelle5 Petite Place39600 Arboisdomainedelatournelle.comphone + 33 3 84 66 25 76

Comments

[Milly]

A little rationality lifts the quality of the debate here. Thanks for contributing!