Cellier Saint Benoit Cremant du Jura Brut Nature, France NV

• Size:0.4 to 0.45 ha (1 to 1.11 ac)
• Varieties:Chardonnay
• Vine Age:Planted in 1990
• Terroir:Located on a plateau in Pupillin, 408m altitude, limestone soils with Lower Liassic fossilized mollusks.
• Viticulture:Sustainable, converting gradually to organic.
• Vinification:Mthode traditionnelle.Pressed with whole clusters, decanted 24-hours, alcoholic and malolactic fermentations in tank.

I had never tasted his sparkling wine, but there’s a change in the 2023 vintage, as Benoit is trying something new. To switch from reds to whites, we tasted the base wine for the 2023 Crmant du Jura, a wine he fermented in barrel, where it’s going to age for one year and then it will be put to referment in bottle and kept with lees for two years. In the past, the young wine was put in bottle early and left with lees for three years. I’m sure this way the wine will be better. We’ll see in a few years. He’s using old Champagne barrels too…- Luis Gutirrez