Fumey-Chatelain Crémant du Jura

In 2019, I went to the Jura and stumbled into Fumey-Chatelain while visiting Montigny-lès-Arsures, near Arbois. I left completely mesmerized. I tasted with Adéline right on a stone-carved lagar that was used in the past to stomp grapes by foot. Among the bottles, they'd placed rocks from their vineyards, and you could see the marine fossils pressed into them. That's the Jura. Ancient, wild, extraordinary.

Raphael and Adéline's son, Marin, joined them in 2017 after working around the world. Since then, the entire domaine has been in conversion to organics and has since implemented biodynamic practices too.

In the cellar, Marin takes a hands-off approach: wines are vinified using native yeasts and undergo no fining or filtration whatsoever. The results are staggeringly beautiful imprints of terroir. This Crémant comes from a plot in Le Vernois, planted over clay-limestone soil. It's 100% Chardonnay, from vines as old as 70 years. Fermented in tank, bottled for secondary fermentation, disgorged, then left to rest on its lees for another 24 months. Zero dosage. Brut nature.

It smells like soft apple, almond pastry, and citrus zest. The mousse is delicate, the finish elegant. It's the kind of sparkling wine that makes you miss a place you've only visited once.