Exciting, Unique Wines from France's Jura Region

Vineyard holdings of Domaine Desire Petit. Credit: Desire Petit.

I'm a huge fan of wines from France's Jura region. This stretch of land between Burgundy and Switzerland has seen a ton of increased focus from American consumers in the past decade.

And for good reason. Traditional (and otherwise obscure) grapes like Trousseau and Poulsard offer red wines like no other on earth. Not to mention the producers making terroir-mirroring examples of Chardonnay, and other grapes.

Weygandt Wines, my favorite wine store in DC, has long been importing exciting selections from Jura producers, many of which I buy each and every year. I recently attended a tasting of some of Weygandt's Jura selecions, and, per usual, found a lot to get stoked about. And considering most of the wines cost about $20-$30, Jura wines (if you can find them) are relatively inexpensive to explore. Sure there are those expensive cult bottles that nerds gobble up, but there's still plenty of value hidden in Jura.

My notes are below on the wines I tasted...

N.V. Les Granges Paquenesses Crémant du Jura (France, Jura, Crémant du Jura)
$22
Delicious stuff, as always from this producer. This is a bright and zesty cremant with floral, herbs, chalk dust flavors on top of apple and lemon fruit. For the price, so reliably good. 100% Chardonnay rom clay-limestone soils. (88 points)

2014 Domaine de la Pinte Chardonnay Arbois Pupillin Fonteneille (France, Jura, Arbois Pupillin)
$24
Richly aromatic, delicious on the palate with a nice combo of creaminess and zestiness. Apples and honey and almond laced with chalk dust and some herbal tea and spice elements. Crisp, mineral-laden finish. Yum. This is always a delicious and fascinating Chardonnay. (91 points)

2015 Domaine Ratte Arbois (France, Jura, Arbois)
$31
Love the spicy and herbal elements on this wine, lots of mineral depth and crushed rocks accent the juicy peaches and yellow pear fruit. Spicy, zesty, lots of minerals. From 60-year-old vines in the Grand Curoulet vineyard. Not sure if this is improving with age or a better bottle or I was just paying more attention but I liked this more than last times I tried it. Made from the Melon à Queue Rouge grape. (90 points)

2015 Domaine de la Borde Poulsard Arbois Pupillin Côte de Feule (France, Jura, Arbois Pupillin)
$29
Love this stuff for its spicy, floral, delicate aromas, with red apple peel and raspberry leaf. On the palate this is vibrant and smooth and tangy with light tannins and serious gluggability, despite significant complexity and depth of flavors: red apple, raspberry, savory broth, pickling spices, meat drippings. Delicious stuff. (91 points)

2015 Domaine Désiré Petit Trousseau Arbois Pupillin (France, Jura, Arbois Pupillin)
$22
Delicious stuff, bright and zesty but also intense and spicy. Red berries and earthy spice and clove. Elegant, harmonious stuff. (91 points)

2014 Domaine de la Pinte Pinot Noir Arbois (France, Jura, Arbois)
$30
Another good showing of this Pinot, which is amazing for the price. Spicy, red fruit aromas. The palate is bright and fresh but structure is there. Red fruits mix with spicy tobacco, herbs, rhubarb. I love this so much for the price. (91 points)