2020 Michel Gahier - Chardonnay (Melon) Arbois La Fauquette (750ml)

Michel Gahier tends his vines in Montigny-lès-Arsures, a village his family has called home since 1525 and one recognized as the finest terroir in the Jura for Trousseau. Michel himself took the domaine in a new direction when he became the first generation to focus solely on grape growing and estate bottling, farming organically and vinifying each of his roughly six hectares parcel by parcel, with every wine reflecting a single, specific site.

La Fauquette comes from fifty-five-year-old vines of Melon à Queue Rouge, a local Jura mutation of Chardonnay named for the reddish tint that appears where the grape clusters meet the stem, grown on blue marl soils near Gahier's home. For the 2020 vintage he added no sulfites at all, and the wine spends around four years aging sous voile in small four-hundred-liter barrels without ever being topped up, allowing a thin protective layer of yeast to develop slowly over time.

The result is intense and saline, with cool, savory aromatics of saffron and cardamom alongside walnut, dried tropical fruit, and a touch of pine resin. Powerful yet remarkably balanced, it carries real finesse beneath its wild, oxidative character. It pairs beautifully with aged Comté, poached freshwater fish, or morels in cream sauce.