This year we have been lucky enough to obtain some more of this amazing Bruyère and Houillon wine made from Chardonnay from the La Croix Rouge vineyard, from the 2018 vintage. The wines have been aged in a stainless steel tank (“100% cuve inox”) rather than the old oak barrels they usually use. As always they allowed the wine to rest until Renaud and Adeline were convinced it was ready to bottle.

The vines grow in limestone clay and the grapes, as always, are picked by hand and placed in small crates so that the grapes are not damaged in any way.

The back label refers to some of the information provided above. The words argilo-calcaire refers to the calcareous clay where the clay has been derived from limestone. The term ouillé is often used in the Jura these days and means “topped up”. White wines are treated in two different ways in the Jura. With some wines the juice is stored in old wooden barrels and some evaporates through the pores of the barrel. As the level of the wine goes down the wine becomes slightly oxidative.

This wine, however, has been topped up from time to time to ensure that there is only minimal contact with oxygen to preserve the freshness of the wine. As with the Ploussard, this wine has been bottled (mis en bouteille) without filtration or added sulphites out of respect for the fact that it is a “living” wine. The wax on Croix-Rouge is white. – Living Wines

*Limit of one bottle per customer