Jura’s Pelican Takes Flight | Wine-Searcher News & Features

Guillaume d’Angerville, proprietor of Domaine Marquis d’Angerville in Volnay, has embraced the challenges of the Jura indigenous grape varieties and its terroir, which is so totally different from his Côte d’Or homeland.

The 2019 classic sees the discharge of 11 totally different Domaine du Pélican wines, having begun with simply three cuvées.

Domaine du Pélican was based in 2012 after d’Angerville and his long-term Volnay cellarmaster François Duvivier took on 5ha (12.5 acres) of vineyards and the vineyard of Château de Chavanes in Montigny-les-Arsures, close to Arbois, together with one other winery plot above the city. D’Angerville had been looking for a number of years for a second property, specifically to deal with white wines.

“My preliminary concept was that I needed to do one thing exterior of Burgundy, exterior my consolation zone, however shut sufficient that we may supervise solely the property whereas taking good care of Volnay.”

He was impressed to analyze Jura after tasting blind a 2005 Chardonnay Les Bruyères from Stéphane Tissot at Le Taillevent restaurant in Paris.

It took 4 years to seek out the perfect vineyards. The Chavanes vineyards have been planted in 2000 and had been farmed biodynamically, as d’Angerville’s Volnay property has been since 2006. And on the identical time, the splendidly sited winery, Le Grand Curoulet, owned by pure wine producer Jean-Marc Brignot grew to become accessible – Brignot was leaving the Jura and had badly uncared for his vineyards.

From this begin, the intention was to construct as much as round 15ha vineyards all inside 5km of the vineyard within the Arbois appellation. In 2014, the vigneron Jacques Puffeney, identified for his legendary Vins Jaunes and reds, and primarily based simply 200 meters up the street from Pélican, negotiated with them to take over most of his vineyards on his retirement after 50 vintages.

After the Pélican workforce had transformed these historically farmed vineyards to biodynamics, three years later Puffeney was sufficiently impressed to permit them to tackle his well-known Bérangère winery, 0.3ha of prime outdated Trousseau. This was the “cherry on the cake”, as d’Angerville put it.

With virtually 14ha of productive vineyards, simply over two-thirds planted to white grapes, Pélican was quickly outgrowing its cellar house. In December 2020 they moved to new cellars, constructed into the slope on the base of Clos Saint-Laurent, the primary Chavanes winery.

Duvivier feedback that the brand new cellar has been designed for excellent flexibility. He makes the one-hour journey from Volnay recurrently and manages the location along with an area workforce.

Duvivier and d’Angerville discovered Burgundy and Jura to have fairly totally different rising circumstances, and any prior preconceptions have been instantly blown out of the water. Even plowing strategies are totally different within the Jura, because of the heavier marly, clay-rich soils and double the rainfall of Burgundy.

In 2012, to their shock, the Chardonnay in En Barbi, a south-facing, sheltered winery at about 360m altitude, gave the identical potential alcohol as their Meursault Santenots winery in Burgundy. Initially the pair had envisioned finishing the Burgundy harvest, taking a number of days off after which tackling the Jura harvest, however that was to not be.

The newly replanted Grand Curoulet winery together with En Barbi present two contrasting, single-vineyard Chardonnays in addition to the primary mix, the three wines displaying fairly totally different Jura Chardonnay expressions.

As a consequence of illness and failure to provide, solely half a hectare of old-vine Savagnin might be rescued in Grand Curoulet and the remainder is younger vines that Pélican planted in 2015 and 2016 following intensive drainage works. A north-facing breezy slope, it has basic Jura soils of varied-coloured marls, together with prized gray marl, excellent for Savagnin.

Bought on Savagnin

Duvivier lights up when discussing Savagnin, which appears to have exceeded each their expectations and d’Angerville enthuses that there’s “no restrict of what you are able to do with Savagnin – it is so versatile and great to work with”.

For the replanting Duvivier obtained mass choice cuttings of Savagnin from two biodynamic Jura estates – Domaine de la Pinte and Domaine Pignier. By touching coincidence, Duvivier realized from Antoine Pignier that his father had obtained Savagnin cuttings from the unique proprietor of Grand Curoulet, Robert Aviet, who – like many winemakers of his period – doubled as a vine nurseryman.

© Domaine du Pélican
| The property takes its identify from the pet fowl of a medieval grandee of Arbois.

Among the many 2019 releases are 4 cracking Savagnin wines: the Ouillé (ouillé means topped-up, versus aged oxidatively within the typical Jura means); the Grand Curoulet Ouillé; Macération Pelliculaire, a skin-contact white; and Brut S Zéro, a standard methodology glowing wine, labelled Vin de France because the Crémant du Jura appellation guidelines require dominant Chardonnay.

The Grand Curoulet Savagnin reveals big getting old potential with depth and vibrant acidity, 2019 being a low-yielding classic – Duvivier additionally notes the salinity, which comes from the marl soils and each homeowners charge the standard extremely, regardless of the younger vines.

The journey of constructing a skin-contact white, started in 2018, the wine being left in tank for 2 weeks on the skins following the tip of fermentation. Though not an excessive “orange wine”, filled with spice and vitality it brings a brand new viewers for Pélican, and like so many Savagnins is right for adventurous meals pairings.

The whites are aged primarily in 500-liter barrels, though from 2020 Pélican invested in a number of totally different sizes of foudres enabling them to mature about 50 % in these bigger quantity barrels.

The S Brut Zero is made in a pure and revolutionary means from a base of 90 % 2018 Savagnin. It was bottled with 10 % fermenting Savagnin should from the 2019 harvest to offer the sugar and yeast for the second fermentation. With nothing added and solely the lees taken away at disgorgement after 13 months, the result’s a creamy glowing Savagnin, a pure lemon-flavored delight with nice vitality.

Insurgent reds from skilled palms

D’Angerville’s unique plan was to deal with whites and above all keep away from comparability together with his Volnays, however he had little selection because the Clos Saint-Laurent winery is especially planted with Pinot Noir on a perfect slope. Over a deep gray marl subsoil lies limestone scree and the altitude reaches 380m.

The one purple made in the beginning was the mix, Les Trois Cépages, as there was too little of the native varieties. From 60 % Pinot Noir, 35 % Trousseau and 5 % Poulsard, d’Angerville describes it because the “spirit of Pélican”, with the mixing course of fulfilling his want to work out of his consolation zone.

Yr after 12 months, Trois Cépages offers essentially the most attractively Jurassien expression of this property. Like all of the reds, it’s from destemmed grapes, macerated for a comparatively brief time, with occasional pump-overs and pressed after two weeks. Getting old is in a combination of small and enormous barrels.

Puffeney’s vineyards enabled them to assume past the mix. And now there’s a vibrant Poulsard primarily from an outdated Puffeney winery and an excellent winery choice of Béranger Trousseau (so-named to tell apart from Puffeney’s Bérangère), with undoubted getting old potential.

Duvivier needed to persuade d’Angerville to make a varietal Pinot Noir and the primary was from the very good 2018 classic; in 2019 it grew to become the single-vineyard Clos Saint-Laurent. The wine is elegant as are all these reds, no shock from this pair, who’ve a wealth of expertise in producing glorious reds.

Arbois traditions come dwelling to roost

The Pélican identify and the label displaying the fowl feeding its younger mix metaphor with brainwave. François Duvivier, very a lot d’Angerville’s associate on this enterprise, noticed that the Arbois city image had by no means been used for a wine property.

The image harks again to when the Dukes of Burgundy owned Jura, and when it was modern to have birds as pets. Mary of Burgundy was given a pelican by her husband Maximilian of Hapsburg and paraded it on a lead in Arbois. The fowl didn’t survive the chilly, however this doesn’t deter Duvivier or d’Angerville; as a substitute the image evokes and amuses them.

The following mission ready within the wings is Vin Jaune, though there may additionally be an oxidative Savagnin. The primary trial of getting old 2015 Savagnin oxidatively underneath the veil of yeast failed. However with a bit assist from Puffeney and a few of his personal Vin Jaune barrels, from 2016 there was Savagnin aged efficiently underneath the veil. The primary Vin Jaune is because of be launched in 2023.