2022 Domaine Cartaux-Bougaud, L’Étoile, Chardonnay, La Côte des Vents, Jura, France.
Sébastien Cartaux and his wife, Sandrine’s Domaine Cartaux-Bougaud is a recent discovery for me, and I wrote about their beautiful Pinot Noir in my previous review of their wines, and this L’Étoile, Chardonnay, La Côte des Vents is distinctive and expressive Jura white that leans more on reductive Burgundy like character, though it has a subtle regional quality that reminds of where it’s from. The color is an evolved golden/yellow in the glass and it is really mineral toned and starts with lemon, apple and pear fruits, with a touch of hazelnut, wet chalk, verbena and clove spice in a medium bodied and textural wine. Made without the non topped traditional Jura under flor methods, this La Côte des Vents, from old vines in the L’Étoile zone still feels very Jura and there is a delicate oxidative, dried fig, waxy and burnt orange element that adds a rustic complexity that is not big distraction from the quality here. The 20-hectare estate, which was organic-certified in 2022 produces a couple of Chardonnays and Savagnin from AOC L’Étoile, as well as reds made from Poulsard, Trousseau, and Pinot Noir, as mentioned, from the Côtes du Jura. While this La Côte des Vents is an enthusiast offering, I highly recommend it for Jura fans.
This intriguing Jura Chardonnay La Côte des Vents (“the slope of winds”) comes from vines planted in 1973 on steep slopes with thinner and stony topsoils with that ancient limestone underneath, and because of this serve terroir, the Cartaux-Bougaud team treats it special, giving it a noticeable different treatment than the most traditional Chardonnay bottling with a much less oxidative style and allowing more transparent detailing. The winery says that this La Côte des Vents spends its life entirely in more inert vessels (steel and concrete) for a year to build on its finely etched lines, instead of living under flor in barrels as the regular almost sherry like bottling does, making this a bit more Chablis like with purity of form, chalky and steely, while still being a bit Jura in the glass, as noted above. The Jura’s Domaine Cartaux Bougaud, run by Sébastien and his wife Sandrine Cartaux who took over from their parents, Anne-Marie Bougaud and Guy Cartaux in 1993, is a small family estate that is relatively young for the region, with their first harvest done back in 1973 on a small parcel in L’Étoile area. This remote mountains region has many exciting producers that are just beginning to be stars as a generational change takes hold here in the Jura and it is exciting times, with Cartaux-Bougaud being a label to search out.
($41 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive