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The wines of the Jura are seldom seen and little known in the UK. These wines can be quite distinctive and in addition to familiar grape varietals such as Chardonnay they also use local grapes such as Savignin ( a cousin of Alsace Gewurztraminer), and Poulsard, a distant relative of Pinot Noir.
Jura Wine is a specialist independent wine merchant in Birmingham who specialises in the wines of the Jura - and specifically the wines of Domaine Tissot.
Jurawine collects the wines in person from our supplier, Domaine Tissot and arranges courier delivery to you throughout the UK.
Jura is part of the region known as Franche Comte and lies in eastern central France between Burgundy & Switzerland. This beautiful area has fine gastronomic traditions, including unusual wine festivals
Specialities of the region include “Vin de Paille” (straw wine), where the grapes are laid out on straw mats to shrivel and concentrate the juices producing delicious, long-lasting sweet wines; and Vin Jaune (yellow wine) which is made from Savignin grapes in a manner similar to Sherry!
Jura Wine - , 1 Augusta Rd, Acocks Green, BIRMINGHAM, B27 6LA
E-Mail: jurae@jurawine.com Tel: 0121 243 4042 Mbl: 07850 845518 Fax: 07092 888372
Another merchant who specialises in Jura & neighbouring Arbois wines (and others including Gaillac and Languedoc) is Devigne Wines (and Confit Direct) in Edinburgh (Tel: 0131 664 9058
Fax: 05600 756287, info@devignewines.co.uk)
A good starting point for getting to know the region and its wines could be John & Carolyn Scallan at their B&B at Sens-sur-Seille (71 Saone et Loire, Bourgogne)
See our customised, searchable map of the region
For more info on the wines of the Jura see the official Wines of the Jura site
| March 9, 2008 | to | March 16, 2008 |
The start of the cycling season in France is marked by the somewhat mis-named Paris-Nice race which runs from 9th - 16th March 2008. Mis-named because although it does indeed finish in Nice it does not start anywhere near Paris. This year is pushes off from Amilly (45 Loiret, Centre) about 75 miles south of Paris near Montargis.
It is also known as the “Race to the Sun” and extends over 1200 km in the week.
After a time trial (prologue) on Sunday 9 March, the route heads south through Nevers (58 Nievre, Burgundy) via Sancerre, then across to Beaujolais (Belleville, 69 Rhone, Rhone-Alpes) and Fleurie and on to Saint Etienne (42 Loire, Rhone-Alpes).
After a transfer down to Montelimar (26 Drome, Rhone-Alpes) the race then heads for the Alps via Mont Ventoux, Althen-les-Paluds (84 Vaucluse, Provence) and onto the Mediterranean coast via Sisteron to Cannes and Nice where the race finishes on 16 March on the Promenade des Anglais.
Even if you are not a cycling fan, the race and its paraphernalia is quite a spectacle and will pass through some glorious countryside.
For more info on the route see www.letour.fr
There is a well-established network of local and highspeed intercity trains in France, and of course France is justly proud of its impressive high speed train services - TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse).
However there are a number of preserved “tourist” railway lines, which whilst they may at first seem to be for the railway enthusiast, do really offer some great opportunities to view parts of the French landscape from quite a unique (and usually leisurely) perspective.
Some of the best include:-
le Chemin de Fer de la Baie de la Somme in Picardie, running around the bay of the Somme near Abbeville on the Channel coast (steam and diesel)
Chemin de Fer de Provence route which runs from Nice up to DIgne (04 Alpes, Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur) in Provence through stunning scenery back from the Mediterranean coast - the full journey takes 3½hours each way but you can get off at numerous intermediate stations - at weekends some journeys may be with a steam engine (Train à Vapeur).
Chemin de Fer de Vallée de l’Ouche in Burgundy’s Côte d’Or, northwest of Beaune (31 Côte d’Or, Burgundy)
Chemin de Fer de la Mure south of Grenoble, runs from St-Georges-de-Commiers (38 Isèe, Rhône-Alpes) to la Mure using vintage electric engines through some dramatic scenery.
Chemin de Fer du Vivarais in the Ardeche, running from Lamastre (07 Ardeche, Rhône-Alpes) to Tournon along the valley of the River Doux - mainly steam with some vintage diesels.
Chemin de fer Touristique du Haut-Quercy “Le Truffadou” - steam and diesel on a strecth of track in and near Martel (46 Lot, Midi-Pyrenees)
Train Touristique de l’Albret runs on an old SNCF line from Nerac (47 Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine) to Mezin on a tourist train - about 90 minutes running from April to October.
On a different level altogether, SNCF (French National Railways) is rightly proud of its recent world record for a train at 574.8 kilometres per hour (about 360 mph) - so much so that you can see video footage of the record run at www.record2007.com/site/index_en.php - dramatically produced. However, the new trains which are now running on the TGVEst Europeen to Strasbourg, Luxembourg and all points east will work at a mere 200mph!
2007 is the three hundredth anniversary of his death, and hence numerous events are planned to celebrate this master of military invention. His physical legacy is of course the list of imitimidating fortresses to defend le Hexagone - the defensible boundaries of France from the northern border with Belgium down to the Alps, along the Mediterranean and up the Atlantic Coast. However, his military reputation initially was more concerned with planning and implementing sieges - so in many ways he was a poacher-turned-gamekeeper - if you are good as breaking sieges, then who better to design defenses to repel them? The hallmark of Vauban is his impressive use of massive angular pentagonal walls which prevented attackers targetting one section of wall without being at risk of counter-attack from an adjacent section. The classic examples are the Citadel at Lille, Briancon and Besancon, although many other examples exist.
My favourite is on the island of Belle-Ile off the coast of Brittany, where the fortifications adjacent to the small harbout of Le Palais are most impressive. More familiar to visitors to France will be the fortifications at St Malo and la Rochelle. Vauban left his mark on most of the land and sea frontiers of France, although he was born in Burgundy which hosts only one of his constructiona. On the Côte d’Azur, Antibes, Villefranche, Cannes and St.Tropez. Toulon, Marseille, Collioure on the Mediterranean;
other sites are at Arras, Auxonne, Barraux, Bayonne, Belfort, Bergues, Bitche, Blaye, Bouillon, Calais, Cambrai, Colmars-les-Alpes, Douai, Entrevaux, Givet, Gravelines, Huningue, Joux, Kehl, Landau, La Rochelle, Le Quesnoy, Lusignan, Le Perthus (Fort de Bellegarde), Luxembourg, Maastricht, Maubeuge, Metz, Mont-Dauphin, Mont-Louis, Montmédy, Namur, Neuf-Brisach, Perpignan, Plouezoc’h (Château du Taureau), Rocroi, Saarlouis, Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, Saint-Omer, Sedan, Toul, Valenciennes, Verdun, Villefranche-de-Conflent. For more info see www.vauban2007-bourgogne.org and www.sites-vauban.org
“Pique-Nique Vigneron” - Now that does sound a great idea! Whilst it was once quite interesting to view and admire a vigneron’s wine cellar with its shiny stainless steel vats or older cement “cuves” it can get a little tiresome. For me the main reason for visiting “backstage” is to get an impression of the tidiness, cleanliness and organisation of the wine-making area - and even that is not always a reliable indicator. I have tasted some really excellent wines made in old, chaotic cellars, whilst gleaming stainless steel (“inox”) and ploshed floors do not guarantee that the wine in the bottle will be faultless.
Wine is for drinking and enjoying, so the idea of tasting wine in the winemaker’s garden sounds just perfect, as suggested by John Scallan at who runs a B&B in the Jura region at www.bandb-burgundy.com/ - so get to know these lesser-known wines whilst having a great family day out!
Each year several of the wine makers on the “Route des Vins du Jura” have their version of an “Open day”. As most of them are tiny producers this can’t really take the form of visits around the wineries as that would take about three minutes flat but what they do is host picnics!
Sunday 10th June this year. Over 40 wine makers are taking part, and they provide the tables, chairs, some of them provide “animations”, most provide visit to the cellars, some of them provide tours around the vineyards and all provide tastings of the Jura’s highly individualistic wines. All you provide is yourself and the picnic! You can telephone each wine maker that you wish to attend (or we can for you) and the world is your oyster.
From here it is about 18 kms to the nearest wine maker in the “Route”, Jean Bourdy at the stunningly picturesque village of Arlay. His family have been making wine here for nearly 500 years and they have plans for a small museum and other attractions. They will also give you a booklet detailing several small walks around the village (if the picnic was rather large!). We recently treid his Macvin, a local speciality, which has had about 15 herbs and spices added to it to an ancient family recipe. Wow!!
There are other areas that have a couple of wine makers close to each other and some that can arrange pick ups from a nearby point. The fun usually starts at about 1000 and goes on to 1800 ish (later if the weather is really good and there is some wine left.
For more info see www.laroutedesvinsdujura.com
www.bandb-burgundy.com/
Recommended Reading:-
IGN Jura Wines Map
Michelin Green Guide to Burgundy and Jura
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