This doesn’t happen too often to me, but I picked up a wine this weekend without knowing shit about it. An idea of how it was pronounced (boo-zhey), but nothing really about the region, grape varietal or producer. This wasn’t exactly easy for me, as there were plenty of unfamiliar bottles of Jura, Touraine and Beaujolais staring up at me, but in the end I made the choice that I pride myself on usually being able to make and picked something new.
The Bugey, Vin du Bugey and Roussette du Bugey appellations are scattered pockets west of the Savoie boundary, located on the Western French border at the base of the Alps and just south of Jura. This is beautiful, rustic, and hilly country that I’ve driven through while on a cheese pilgrimage north in search of Comté, Bleu de Gex and Morbier. Until May 28th 2009, when they were elevated to AOC status, the 500 hectares (1200 acres) of vineyards which make up the appellations of Bugey, were classified under the slowing fading category of VDQS. The red grapes grown here include Poulsard, Pinot Noir, Gamay, and Mondeuse, with the white grapes being (ready??) Chardonnay, Aligoté, Altesse (Roussette), Jacquère, Molette, and Mondeuse Blanche.
Vin du Bugey also has three crus: Montagnieu, Manicle, and Cerdon (which apparently is making some killer rosé bubble from Poulsard and Gamay).
(Image of Franck Peillot, linked from cpvin.com)
Famille Peillot Bugey ‘07 Mondeuse
The nose on this wine when I first cracked it was wild - spicy and herbaceous, faintly reminiscent of Christmas cake and rosemary, followed up on the palate with purple fruit, cranberry and black pepper. The weight is on the lighter side of medium and there are some light fine-grained tannins present. I was expecting something more Jura like, but this is closer to a Rhône Syrah. This is good wine, if not lacking a touch of magic, but worth the $18. It held together quite nicely the second day it was open, softening out a little more. I found it at William Cross in San Francisco.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
7 Responses:
November 24th, 2009 at 10:02 am
Hi Jake, love the blog, our next vinartculture dinner will probably be about the Jura region, I will definatley pick up this Mondeuse, sounds wonderful. Carla-vinartculture
November 24th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
I feel pretty much the same about this wine. It’s good but a little too tightly wound with spicy herbs for my taste.
On the other hand, Peillot’s Rousette de Bugey is well worth a try. A gorgeous wine.
November 24th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Thanks for the comments guys.
Carla, if you’re thinking about doing a Jura night, you should see if you can find anything from Jacques Puffeney… the Trousseau has been my favourite so far:
http://www.cherriesandclay.com/2009/11/02/thirsty-for-more-jura/
Todd, thanks for the tip on Peillot’s Rousette.
November 25th, 2009 at 9:44 am
We don’t see much Jura in Detroit but this Poulsard is a favorite:
http://louisdressner.com/overnoy/
We’ve consumed bottles of this hanging out on the patio in summer and around a campfire in the northwoods with temps in the single digits. It never fails to please. Though somewhat light in body there is a surprising depth of tangy aromas and flavors. A scandalously drinkable wine.
November 25th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Tres Cool Jake. Tres Cool.
Our Tissot special order finally arrived last week and I’ve been plowing through the single site Chards. Bloody rad wines. His Trousseau is shit hot too. Of course just as I thought we were catching up with cool hard to find stuff you go and taste a Mondeuse. You just picked it off the shelf. Seriously? Very jealous. I’m gonna drown my sorrows in some more savignin and try to be fine with the fact that I’ll never bet as hip as you.
Great post…..when you coming back for a visit?
Matt
November 25th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
Ha!
Come on Matt, you guys are doing a great job (the best?) offering awesome and rare wines to the people of Vancouver.
I likely wont be returning until post Olympics. Maybe you should come hangout in SF?
Wait for my upcoming Bugey Cerdon post…
November 27th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
[...] du Mont July Bugey Cerdon Since my post on Bugey earlier this week, I’ve tried two different Bugey Cerdon wines. One from Bernard Rondeau and [...]