2003 Arbois Vin Jaune

Puffeney’s 2003 Arbois Vin Jaune displays a zesty, peppery, as well as ashen, slightly acridly smoky, nose-wrinkling aromatic display. There is an almost ethereal suggestion of sweetness there, too, thanks to the peculiar, volatile byproducts of chemical transformation under flor. While firm in feel and far-gone in its sense of oxidative evolution, this retains downright refreshing juiciness in its penetratingly long finish. It will doubtless keep well for several decades, though it may well retain aggressive aromatics that might deter even some afficianados of the genre. Jacques Puffeney of Montigny-les-Arsures is among the Jura’s most prestigious, engaging, and (thanks to the rotund amplitude of both his torso and white-bearded visage) easily recognized vignerons, and crafts wines no less distinctive – if much less massive – than their author. With the exceptions of Pinot Noir, vin jaune, and his few sweet wines – all of which are matured in older barriques – Puffeney relies on ancient foudres, of which I have not seen such a collection as his outside of Alsace or Chateauneuf-du-Pape; and he is favorably inclined to long elevage even for non-oxidative lots, which can themselves thus come off as if influenced by flor or other living denizens of the cask. Puffeney’s reds, too – often cited as among the region’s best – are bottled significantly later than the regional norm. He farms roughly 6 acres of Chardonnay, much of it melon a queue rouge; 5 acres of Savagnin; and 7.5 acres of reds, and says that his father – who actively selected and planted at a young age – is to thank for the 50-year average age of vine Puffeney fils now enjoys. Imported by Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990