Fumey Chatelain
Montigny-lès-Arsures, Jura
5 years after the domaine was founded in 1986, frost ravaged the Jura and took with it close to all of the harvest of 1991. From the rubble came an opportunity for Raphael Fumey to turn what little was left into the first wines under his own label.
Some years later, the purchase of a ruinous farmhouse in Montigny-les-arsures, which would later become the cellar and family estate solidified the Domaine Fumey Chatelain as a bona-fide producer in Jura, specifically in the appellation of Arbois, with some vineyards also in neighbouring Montigny.
Today, the wines are made by second generation Marin, with Raphael tending to the family’s 15ha under vine. Marin studied in Davaye, Burgundy before working in Australia for Spinifex, Burn Cottage in New Zealand and Crystallum in SA. His tuition at these boundary-pushing estates led to a change in the winemaking style at his family estate, introducing wild fermentation, whole bunch maceration and no fining or filtration The vineyards are managed biodynamically, with organic certification coming soon for most of the sites.
The subsequent wines are brought to us in very limited quantities. We consider ourselves lucky to have secured such a small allocation on the back of two challenging vintages punctuated with adverse weather conditions.
The Fumey Chatelain wines continue to astonish us with their verve and crystalline quality. Stylistically they are millennia away from the oxidative Jura wines of yore and present a more elegant, terroir focussed take on this amazing region. Just when we thought we’re well acquainted with them, we discover new reasons to marvel, and the new releases are quite the splendid display.
Since taking on the winemaking duties, Marin’s opened Fumey Chatelain up to the world. Prior to making their eponymous wines, Marin’s parents sold their fruit to negociants. In the Spring of 1991, the terrible frost left them with a crop too small to sell, yet beautiful enough to vinify themselves. And so, their first wines were created. After a few years making the wines here and there, borrowing barrels and space from other family vignerons, Raphaël and Adeline found an old farm in Montigny-lès-Arsures, where they established their winery, and the rest is history.
As for many of our growers, Marin’s efforts to convert the vineyards to complete organic viticulture have paid off. During his stint making wine in the New World, at Spinifex (Barossa), Crystallum (SA) and Burn Cottage (Central Otago) Marin gained a fresh understanding on how to express terroir, which he brought home with him and we’re witnessing through his pristine wines.
NV Crémant du Jura Blanc Brut
The small yet mighty Crémant du Jura AOC is taken as seriously as Vin Jaune and other Jura staples. This Crémant du Jura Blanc Brut is produced in the timehonoured traditional method, making for a sensational drinking experience.
Winemaking:
Organically farmed 20- 50-year-old Chardonnay vines thrive on marl and limestone soils. This Blanc Brut is gently basket-pressed to collect the free-run juice, which is then wild fermented. It spends 5 months in tank and 12 months or so in bottle sur latte for prise de mousse.
NV Crémant du Jura Rosé
This Crémant du Jura Rosé Brut NV is one that will exalt your senses. Unsurprisingly, this style makes up half of Jura’s exports, with Rosé accounting for 10%. A blend of either Ploussard, Trousseau and Pinot Noir, often the star, it’s more than a simple alternative to Champagne that offers unlimited enjoyment opportunities.
Winemaking:
The basket pressed juice is left on skins, then bled off to achieve this vibrant pink-orange hue. The base wine is fermented, then aged in stainless steel tank for 5 months, before spending 12 months in bottle sur latte for final prise de mousse.
2020 Arbois Chardonnay
The most striking aspect of these considered natural wines across the board is their genuine reflection of the exceptional Arbois terroir. These vineyards are peppered with mineral fossil deposits which, in unison with ideal aspect and altitude, add a flinty touch to these wines that is distinctive and in the case of the Arbois Chardonnay, absolutely magnetizing.
Winemaking:
Organically farmed 20-50 deskyear-old Chardonnay vines grown on marl and limestone soils. This Chardonnay is gently basket-pressed, wild fermented and left to rest on its lees in stainless steel and foudres for 24 months.
2020 Chardonnay ‘Face Nord de Sauvagny’
Marin’s family is deeply rooted in Arbois, where his grandparents used to raise cows to make Comté cheese. Raphaël Fumey and Adeline Chatelain have created something that not only withstood the trials of time and nature but thrived. Together, Marin and his parents cultivate their vineyards organically, and with a profound respect for the vines and the land. Here’s a Chardonnay that projects a charming minerality in a sharp, definitive style that will appeal to the avid Jura Chardonnay lovers.
Winemaking:
This Chardonnay grows on the north face of the town of Sauvagny, on calcareous and clayey soil. The grapes are hand harvested from a single vineyard, crushed and basket-pressed to stainless steel for a fermentation on wild yeast and further resting time on its fine lees. It is aged in foudres for 18 months.
2020 Chardonnay ‘Melons Queue Rouge Les Capucins’
A new single vineyard release. Melons à queue rouge vines planted in 1973 on a limestone soil with Marl from the Lias underground and facing south.
Winemaking:
The grapes were pressed whole bunches, fermented and aged into barrels for 12 months, racked to tank for an other 12 months of aging. 24 months in total. No sulphur.
2021 Chardonnay ‘Le Zouave’
The reissue of a cuvée created in 2015. Le Zouave is a blend of our old vines. (the young vines were used for the crémant).
Winemaking:
Pressed whole bunches, fermented and aged into 228L and Foudres for 12 months, racked to tank for another 6 months of aging. 18 months in total.
2021 Savagnin ‘Ouillé’
As one of France’s best preserved winegrowing regions and one of the smallest, Jura’s unspoilt low hills, expansive alpine woods and bountiful streams present the perfect conditions for Savagnin and other traditional varieties, resulting in a kaleidoscopic range of wines. This ‘modern Jura’ Savagnin shows the promise of new beginnings in a region anchored in tradition. It shows immediate drinking appeal.
Winemaking:
This organically grown Savagnin is plucked from 50-year-old vines growing in black marl, in the north of Sauvagny. Pressed whole bunches, fermented and aged into 228L and 500L barrels for 12Months, racked to tank for another 6months of aging. 18months in total.
2018 Savagnin
Marin instilled a new energy into his family’s estate, taking this opportunity to bring the best that Jura wines have to offer to wine drinkers around the world. His wines are expressive and authentically Jura in style. As Jura’s most iconic white variety, Savagnin is part of a long tradition of oxidative winemaking. In a controlled manner, the wine develops gracefully over extensive periods of time, only to reveal a powerful complexity and nutty characters that set it apart from other styles. The Arbois Savagnin is a sensational rendering of some of the best vineyards in Arbois.
Winemaking:
The Savagnin grows on marly soils and spends 5 years sous voile in 228 litre barrels. It is handled minimally with an emphasis on letting the fruit express itself and the Arbois terroir.
2018 Savagnin ‘Sous Voile’
Second bottling of Savagnin 2018 under flor, 40 months of aging under flor this time.
2021 Ploussard and Pinot Noir ‘No Sin Tou Tsefs Rouge’
The No Sin Tou Tsefs Rouge is making its grand debut in the range and our portfolio. With this wine, Marin wanted to showcase interesting sites of Arbois. This humble blend of Ploussard (50%) and Pinot Noir (50%) is not your typical simple wine, but rather a ‘glouglou’ wines that’s going to be your faithful companion this summer. The name comes from the French dialect “Nous sommes tous chefs“, which means “We’re all in charge, now let’s get on with it and drink”
Winemaking:
The organically grown fruit is hand harvested. The Pinot Noir is only partially destemmed and each parcel is fermented separately on wild yeast, then macerated on skins for 20 days. The Ploussard is left undisturbed while the Pinot Noir sees some plunging (once or twice). The wine is aged for 11 months in stainless steel and is minimally sulfured. It’s not fined nor filtered for immediate satisfaction upon opening.
2020 Ploussard ‘Fertans’
The Fumey Chatelain express their convictions with strength through their wines. They believe that a wine’s beauty and quality emanate from the vine. With this life-affirming, respectful approach to cultivating the land they produce the most honest and sincere wines. Much like their gentle touch on the terroir, Ploussard is unusually ethereal in colour and feel, yet with earthy, gamey flavours to flesh out its light frame.
Winemaking:
70-year-old vines produce the fruit. The juice is macerated on skins for 15 days, minimally handled and whole bunch fermented with native yeasts. It is aged in stainless steel tank for 18 months.
2020 Trousseau ‘Le Bastard’
Le Bastard Trousseau has two references – Trousseau’s Portuguese equivalent, Bastardo, and the two different lieux-dits that produce the fruit. Marin’s sister designed the radically contemporary labels depicting plants and fossils found on the estate. They celebrate the rich history that has paved the way to their success, while suggesting a welcome renewal. This superior quality Trousseau a la Dame is the result of careful massal selection. Trousseau produces bright coloured wines that are more tannic and full-flavoured. It offers freshness and a distinctive gaminess. It’s late-budding and therefore escapes the notorious spring frosts of the Jura. It will highlight the simplest spring salad and pepper steak thanks to its bright acidity, melted tannin and silky texture. No wonder it’s Marin’s favourite Jura variety.
Winemaking:
The 25-year-old Trousseau a la Dame vines are organically farmed on the single vineyard ‘Aux Loges et Les Barbi’ on schist marl soils. The grapes are hand harvested, then destemmed, macerated for 20 days, following a wild fermentation in stainless steel. The wine is then aged in stainless steel tanks for 11 months.
2020 Pinot Noir ‘Remonte en Ligne’
“Remonte en Ligne” (“back on track”) is chewy, delicious and worth the detour. This Pinot Noir beautifully encapsulates the Fumey Chatelain philosophy that makes us look twice – a balanced style of wine embracing minerality, fruitfulness and racy acidity. It’s precise, vibrant, and deep altogether.
Winemaking:
This Pinot Noir hails from 20 to 50-year-old vines planted in a single vineyard known as “Les Mélineaux”, planted on marl and limestone soils. Former versions also included fruit from a vineyard known as “Les Grands Champs”. The grapes are hand-harvested and wild fermented. The whole bunches are macerated for 15 days, then gently pressed. The free-run juice is blended with the pressed fraction (70%), and the wine is aged in foudres for 22 months.
2016 Vin Jaune
All of the Fumey Chatelain wines are vinified naturally, resulting in the perfect blend of ancient tradition and spirit of experimentation. Vin Jaune is the supreme embodiment of it. Described as the gold of Jura, Vin Jaune captures wine drinkers’ imagination with its aromatic and flavour versatility.
Winemaking:
The Vin Jaune receives a very special treatment involving 7 years of ageing in old oak under a veil (sous-voile). The barrels are filled with just enough wine to allow a pocket of air on the surface. The yeast then forms a film over the wine, thus protecting it against oxygen in a process called biological ageing. This lengthy process allows the slow and steady development of characters, and especially those from the yeast itself. This wine might well be the pièce de résistance within the Fumey Chatelain’s scrumptious banquet, as only the best
NV Macvin du Jura
Macvin can be considered one of Jura’s most celebrated traditions, and potentially its most potent secret weapon to achieve world domination. It accounts for a mere 5% of the Jura AOC production but stands in a category of its own, which some would say hardly makes it a wine. In fact, ‘Marc-vin’ is derived from French marc-based brandy and unfermented grape juice. It can be white or red.
Winemaking:
In this case, Savagnin and Chardonnay grapes were hand harvested and pressed off their juice, which was then reduced in half by boiling. It was then fortified with brandy. Once it reached 16% abv, it was left to rest in oak barrels for any period of time from 10 months to 6 years. The process did not involve any fermentation.