2019 Vignerons Les Matheny, Arbois Poulsard, Côtes du Jura, France.
The Matheny Poulsard is much darker in the glass than I had expected, it was a an almost opaque garnet and quite funky on the nose, with muted florals and cardimon spice, which was more expected and the palate was nicely evolved and silky with earthy strawberry, tart cherry, plum, bergamot and fleshy red peach fruits, along with woodsy notes of porcini, old cedar, minty herbs, savory spices and grilled orange. There’s pretty much everything there and this medium bodied wine, that I drank chilled, gives a certain generosity, but like most Poulsard wines for me, lacks a bit of spark, and is not as interesting in terms of engagement, as its cousin Trousseau usually. That said it is very much what Jura fans like about the natural, feral and untamed wines in this region, not at all shy about its personality. This all organic and naturally fermented Poulsard, comes from, what the winery calls meager-yielding vines in Arbois planted in 1943, on the ancient mountain limestone soils, with winemaker Emeric Foléat producing a single cask of this fully de-stemed wine. After the 20 plus day maceration on the skins and the fermentation goes dry, the Poulsard is aged in Foléat’s old 15-hectoliter barrel, for close to 18 months, which has been used for almost 40 vintages now, which also helps explain the volatile nature, raw quality and funkiness here.
Winemaker Emeric Foléat of the tiny Les Matheny domaine in Arbois, who worked for eight years with the legendary Jacques Puffeney, struck out on his own and is now one of the hottest names in the Jura. Puffeney, who retired, taught Emeric what he says was the ultimate value in embracing risk and trusting the quality of his wine or grapes to do its thing in the cellar without manipulating them and to embrace the natural processes. Foléat, who has close to 3 hectares in Arbois, works his vines without the use of synthetic chemicals and raises his wines, according to his importer, in a small cinderblock shed devoid of modern gadgetry. Emeric, has made it known that he takes each harvest as it comes, vinifying and aging certain parcels separately if the notion strikes him, or maybe keeping a cask or two under voile for an extra-long time if the underlying material proves worthy, and only topping up his barrels occasionally, partially, and based purely on his taste, relying on instinct. These things are pretty much on full display here, which will certainly appeal to the Jura purists out there, though I personally would have wished for a little more of something a bit less funky and maybe a more pale translucent hue, more common in this varietal. In more recent years, I have lost some of my enjoyment of Jura wines and have become much more sensitive to mouse(y) elements and am more selective about what I drink for personal pleasure, but I very much am excited to explore these Vignerons Les Matheny in full.
($45 Est.) 89 Points, grapelive