Jérôme Arnoux Initial 2022
A gritty minerality ran through this Chardonnay, alongside grapefruit, orange peel and an oily, rather heavy feel.
Region: Jura · Type: White · Vintage: 2022 · Producer: Le Cellier des Tiercelines · Grape: Chardonnay
Tasted 2025-01-21
In the glass
The nose showed grapefruit with orange peel. On the palate there was a sense of residual sugar and an oily texture. The wine sat on the heavy side and had a faint spritz. There was white pepper as well. It was a simple wine.
Producer
The wine comes from Le Cellier des Tiercelines, a company in Arbois in the Jura. It is run by Jérôme Arnoux, who acts as its manager (gérant) and selects grapes from the Jura to make cuvées under his own name. He never formally studied winemaking: from the age of 17 he spent more than 20 years working as an employee at various domaines in Arbois, learning the work of the vineyard and the cellar. He was born in Montigny-les-Arsures, a Jura village known for the local Trousseau grape, and as a child spent his Wednesdays at a neighbouring grower's.
Site
This Chardonnay comes from clay-limestone soil (argilocalcaire). The grapes for the house's cuvées come mainly from vineyards it farms itself in AOC Arbois and Côtes du Jura. The plots are grassed and mowed in the middle of the row, which helps keep yields around 35 hl/ha.
Vinification
This wine is aged 80% in tank and 20% in oak barrel. Across its range, the domaine ferments only with indigenous yeasts and does not fine its wines (collage); they are very lightly filtered and made with a minimum of sulphur.