2016 Michel Gahier - Savagnin Arbois Vin Jaune (620ml)

Michel Gahier is a quiet, meticulous winemaker in Montigny-les-Arsures, whose family has lived in the Jura since the sixteenth century, though he was the first to focus solely on farming grapes and bottling his own wine when he took over in 1990. He now tends about eight hectares of vines, but Savagnin makes up only a small portion of the domaine, reserved exclusively for this single, uncompromising expression of Vin Jaune. Gahier developed his approach in close dialogue with his friend and neighbor Jacques Puffeney, from whom he acquired several century-old barrels along with their original flor culture.

Vin Jaune is one of the Jura's oldest and most demanding traditions, made from hand-harvested Savagnin that ferments spontaneously with no added sulfur before spending around seven years sous voile, aging beneath a natural layer of yeast in four-hundred-liter barrels that are never topped up. This long, unbroken exposure to air develops the wine's characteristic depth without ever tipping into flaws, a difficult balance Gahier is known for achieving with unusual finesse.

The result is spicy, nutty, and faintly smoky, with the exotic character that reflects Savagnin's genetic link to Gewürztraminer, yet it remains light on its feet with real poise. Gahier himself believes his best examples need a decade or more in bottle to fully unfold. It pairs beautifully with Comté, morels, or roasted poultry in cream sauce.