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Vignerons Les Matheny

These are wines free of shackles—whites of visceral intensity, layered and nuanced, yet simultaneously tough and bare-knuckled; brazenly structured reds that scoff at the dainty, almost apologetic extraction common for such thin-skinned varieties; wines of immense aromatic range that are unafraid to stare volatile acidity in the face and emerge victorious.

Few in the Jura are as talented as Emeric Foléat of the tiny Les Matheny domaine in Arbois. Having worked for eight years under the legendary Jacques Puffeney, who taught him the ultimate value in embracing risk and trusting the quality of his fruit to do its thing in the cellar without coercion, Emeric farms 3 hectares in Arbois without the use of synthetic chemicals and raises his wines in a small cinderblock shed devoid of modern gadgetry. Emeric takes each harvest as it comes, vinifying and aging certain parcels separately if the notion strikes him, keeping a cask or two under voile for an extra-long time if the underlying material proves worthy, and topping up his barrels occasionally, partially, and based purely on taste and instinct. Minute additions of sulfur, and even then only sometimes, are the only adjustments he makes to his bold, assertive, deeply personal creations.

textured background of dirt

To discuss the white wines of the Jura as either “topped up” or “oxidative” is to impose a strict binary on what is in fact a broad continuum. The greatest white wines of the Jura are never monolithically oxidative, even in their most extreme form (the inimitable Vin Jaune), and the skilled vigneron balances oxidative notes with elements derived from the voile—and always with the ultimate aim of enhancing rather than overwhelming fruit-acid-mineral interplay. These are wines free of shackles—simultaneously tough and bare-knuckled whites, brazenly structured reds that scoff at the dainty, almost apologetic extraction common for such thin-skinned varieties. While both enologist and marketer alike may consider Les Matheny a baffling operation, those who value character in wine will find a deep well of authenticity and beauty here.

Farming

Practicing organic

Treatments

Copper-sulfate only

Ploughing

Annual ploughing to maintain vineyard health

Soils

Blue, red, and white limestone-clay marls

Vines

Trained in Guyot and planted at 5-6,000 vine/ha, vines average 40 years old

Yields

Controlled through pruning and debudding

Harvest

Entirely manual, mid-September to early October

Sourcing

Entirely estate fruit

Fermentation

Red wines see total destemming and ferment spontaneously in fiberglass tanks. Cuvaison averages 3 weeks. White wines ferment spontaneously in fiberglass tanks

Extraction

Red wines see pumpovers during cuvaison

Chaptalization

None

Pressing

Horizontal screw press

Malolactic Fermentation

Spontaneous, in barrel following alcoholic fermentation

Élevage

White wines age 4-9 years in neutral 228-l oak barrels and demi muids with some topping up. Red wines age 18-30 months in neutral foudres and demi muids

lees

Wines are racked following malolactic and remain on their fine lees until assemblage prior to bottling

Fining and Filtration

Wines are unfined and see a light plate filtration

sulfur

Applied at harvest, with c. 30 mg/l total sulfur

Farming

Practicing organic

Treatments

Copper-sulfate only

Ploughing

Annual ploughing to maintain vineyard health

Soils

Blue, red, and white limestone-clay marls

Vines

Trained in Guyot and planted at 5-6,000 vine/ha, vines average 40 years old

Yields

Controlled through pruning and debudding

Harvest

Entirely manual, mid-September to early October

Sourcing

Entirely estate fruit

Fermentation

Red wines see total destemming and ferment spontaneously in fiberglass tanks. Cuvaison averages 3 weeks. White wines ferment spontaneously in fiberglass tanks

Extraction

Red wines see pumpovers during cuvaison

Chaptalization

None

Pressing

Horizontal screw press

Malolactic Fermentation

Spontaneous, in barrel following alcoholic fermentation

Élevage

White wines age 4-9 years in neutral 228-l oak barrels and demi muids with some topping up. Red wines age 18-30 months in neutral foudres and demi muids

Lees

Wines are racked following malolactic and remain on their fine lees until assemblage prior to bottling

Fining & Filtration

Wines are unfined and see a light plate filtration

Sulfur

Applied at harvest, with c. 30 mg/l total sulfur

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