Fumey-Chatelain 'Aux Melinaux' Pinot Noir 2022

Domaine Fumey-Chatelain started in the mid-1980s, when Raphaël and Adeline Fumey began farming half a hectare of vines outside Arbois, in the heart of the Jura. They grew slowly and steadily, vinified their own wines for the first time in 1991, and built their cellar in Montigny-lès-Arsures in 1999. Today the estate covers 17 hectares across more than 20 parcels, overseen by their son Marin, who rejoined the family in 2020 after making wine across the southern hemisphere for several years. The vines are now farmed entirely without chemicals, working toward organic certification.

This Pinot Noir comes from a single parcel planted in 2002, on limestone and clay soils in Arbois. Whole clusters, 100% of them. Aged for 12 months in 228-litre barrels. The 2022 vintage shows remarkable ripeness, it's buoyant and vivid but not heavy. Bursting with blue and red fruit (cherries, mostly, almost jammy but not quite), with a bit of damp forest floors and mushrooms. Warm spices, a little cocoa, soft smoke and earthy notes that feel distinctly Jurassian.

It has incredible potential for aging, but honestly? It's already delightful today. A friend made a perfect amatriciana the other day, with the guanciale all rosty/toasty and super concentrated tomato sauce, and the earthiness of this wine was delightful with that.