Château-Chalon Fruitière Vinicole 1973

Lot presentation

Château-Chalon Fruitière Vinicole 1973

The wine

Château Chalon was the birth place of "vin jaune" ("yellow wine"). Considered by many eminent oenologists to be one of the best white wines in the world, the Jura's vin jaune is a somewhat unusual wine, that always surprises people, even if they decide it is not to their taste. It was first produced in the Château Chalon appellation, but can also be found in Arbois, L'Etoile and in the Côtes du Jura. Two conditions are necessary to produce this mysterious wine: a blue or black marly soil and the Savagnin grape. The grapes are harvested very late, during the second half of October. After fermentation, the wine is put in oak barrels and aged for the requisite period of six years and three months. A film of yeast gradually grows on the wine's surface which prevents it from oxidizing and slowly transforms it into vin jaune. The wine's colour becomes a light amberish yellow; it develops a surprisingly powerful bouquet and an exceptionally persistent nutty flavour Very unusually for a white wine, Château Chalon is served at room temperature. It can easily be kept for more than a century. This unique wine is presented in unique, rather squat "clavelin" bottles that hold 62 cl.