What is Savagnin?

Savagnin produces what might be the most unusual wine in France: Vin Jaune. If you've never tried it, imagine a wine that tastes like sherry met Chablis in the mountains — deep gold in colour, with intense aromas of walnuts, curry powder, green apple, and saffron. It's not for everyone, but for those who fall under its spell, nothing else compares.

The magic of Vin Jaune lies in its production. After normal fermentation, the wine goes into old oak barrels that aren't topped up (unlike almost every other wine in the world). Over a minimum of 6 years and 3 months, a film of yeast called 'voile' (similar to sherry's flor) forms on the surface, partially protecting the wine from oxygen while creating those extraordinary nutty, spicy flavours. The wine is bottled in a special 62cl bottle called a clavelin — representing what's left of a litre after years of evaporation.

Château-Chalon is considered the greatest Vin Jaune appellation — a tiny village producing only this one wine from Savagnin grown on blue Lias marl. The best examples can age for 50-100 years or more.

But here's the exciting twist: a new generation of Jura winemakers is also making Savagnin 'ouillé' — meaning the barrels are topped up, preventing voile formation. Without the oxidative ageing, Savagnin reveals a completely different personality: lemony, mineral, high-acid, and almost Riesling-like. These fresh-style Savagnins have become darlings of the natural wine scene.

Vin Jaune with aged Comté cheese is one of the great food-and-wine pairings. Also try it with chicken in morel mushroom cream sauce, walnuts, mild curries, or simply as a meditation wine. The ouillé style works brilliantly with smoked fish, shellfish, and mountain cheeses.