Tasting Notes
From Etienne we have a cuvée called Méandres, from the 2018 vintage, with a beautiful label (above) depicting the “guêpier d’europe” (in English the European bee-eater) which nests in the banks of the river below his vineyards. Méandres is the word “meander” in English. It is a very deliberate choice, reflecting the complex route this wine took to reach fruition and also the sinuous path of the Loue river which skirts the village of Cramans.
The wine is what would otherwise have been the 2018 Chardonnay Lumachelles but has been declassified. Like many white wines from the 2018 vintage fermentation was long and difficult.
To finish it, Etienne macerated it with the grapes from the 2020 vintage of the same wine. This process enable the wine to ferment until dry. As usual, the aging was in 45 hl foudres. Etienne has waited a long time for this to be ready to release and we were lucky enough to be shipping some wine at the time it and the labels were ready so we received an unexpected allocation which, as well as boosting the total number of bottles helped to reduce the freight cost per bottle for all of the wines.
The wine, with its extended aging in older foudre has a Jura oxidative quality but is still fresh and lifted with savoury notes that make it a wonderful wine with food. Because it has been declassified its price is slightly more bearable as well. - Importer Note
Etienne Thiebaud commenced making his own wine at Domaine des Cavarodes in the village of Cramans in the northern part of the Jura in 2007. He makes wines of amazing purity which reflect the terroir from which they come on either side of the Loue River and across to Arbois.
He only has 4.5 hectares of vines (ranging in age from 15 to 115 years old) which he farms organically but produces many cuvees from these small holdings. The wines are made as naturally as possible with the reds undergoing semi-carbonic maceration following careful de-stemming and maturation in old barrels.
Key vineyards are Lumachelles which is in the commune of Mouchard just north of Arbois (where he has Chardonnay and Trousseau), Guille Bouton in Arbois (where he has Chardonnay) and Les Messagelins which is also in Arbois (where he has Trousseau). - Importer Note
| Product Type | Wine White Chardonnay |
| Volume | 750ml |
| Country | France |
| Region | Jura |
| Sub Region | Arbois |
| Winemaking Practices | Natural |
| Vineyard Practices | Organic/Biodynamic |