King Of The Mountains

Pinot Noir, 2006
Jacques Puffeney, Arbois, Jura

I opened a bottle of this to wash down my first concerted attempt at the Jura specialty Poulet au vin jaune et aux morels (except without the morels which were notable by their absence from the East Geelong Happy Shopper). Not quite in the same league as Randalls 'Poulet' efforts, though I’m quite happy with my sophmore result.

The wine takes its time to unfurl before revealing it’s bright cherry kirsch bouquet spiked with dried herbs. There’s something mineral or umami/savoury coming to the party too. This is wild, mountain Burgundy. I can’t imagine this being an instant hit in a one-size-fits-all society; it has none of the modern attributes that make a wine instantly appealing to the mob; obvious fruit, sweet oak, alcoholic power and sucrose saturation. With a world of wine at our fingertips we become picky. The wine has to fit our, often-inflexible, notions of good better and best. This is thankfully one of those wines that doesn’t fit in. Perhaps a misunderstood loner that speaks of a time and place on the brink of vinous extinction.

US importer/writer Eric Asimov summed up Puffeney as a creator of “jagged wines in a silky-smooth world.” Well said. Nothing slick is happening here. No consulting oenologists, no pandering to export markets. Puffeney inherited a sliver of land from his father, which he expanded to 7½ acres by earning extra income as a cheesemaker, producing the region’s famous Comte cheese. He hand-harvests all of his vines, including the .6 acre parcel of Pinot farmed to produce this bottling. The wine is fermented in large old oak foudre and then aged in barrel for up to 30 months before bottling. Puffeney does not fine or filter, this, or any of his wines.

The palate, firm and jagged alone, moulds into the chicken. There’s a refreshing cut though the dish creating a mouthful of harmony. It’s a minimalist, idiosyncratic wine, a Jim Jarmuch job; unhurried, lacking clear meaning by focusing on mood and character.