DOMAINE des MARNES BLANCHES LES MOLATES SAVAGNIN 2023

Natives of the Jura, both Pauline and Géraud’s families owned tiny plots (used to make wine for home consumption) and spending time in the vines in their childhood was enough to give them the wine bug. The couple met while studying winemaking in Dijon and created Domaine des Marnes Blanches when they returned to the Jura in 2006. They farmed organically from the word go and have added parcels (some they planted) along the way to reach a total of 12ha today, spread across four villages in the Sud-Revermont. Cesancey, their first acquisition, is home to the white marl after which the domaine is named, while Gevingey, Vincelles and Ste-Agnès have more varied soil types, the majority being red marl and gryphées (limestone rich in fossils).

This assemblage comes from several plots around the town of Sainte-Agnès. The vines average 25-years-old and are planted on limestone over marl. The grapes are pressed directly to barrel for fermentation and malolactic conversion. No bâtonnage is done during élevage, and the barrels are kept fully topped to prevent oxidation. The wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered with minimal SO2 after 10 months.

Reviews for the 2022 vintage below…

95/100 Mike Bennie, The Wine Front, April 2024 (2022 Vintage)
"This wine delivers very pure savagnin grape variety character with a minimal ten months spent in foudre. Natural ferment, no additions, no filtering and the like. As is Jura. A textural feast and refreshment factor in tow. Such a superb wine. Stellar in its kaleidoscope of green apple, salted cashew, sea spray, faint fino sherry, nougat, honey, cinnamon, alpine herb notes. The palate a feast of chalky pucker and faint juiciness in a tense frame of briny acidity, stretching long, fine and brilliant. It’s all crystals and crunch, wild minerality, savouriness and just straight up damn excitement. This sends a rocket up wines of plain varietal definition. I’m so in."