Jura, France
The Jura sits in that region on the eastern side of France, about midway north to south. If you are learning about wine, it is not likely to be one of the first regions they teach you.
This 80-kilometer strip faces Bourgogne to the west and Switzerland to the east.
The region is known for its stunning lakes, valleys, caves, waterfalls, oh and cheese, and wine.
Jura is a Department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of France. Sparsely populated, there is also a Swiss region on the other side of the border called Jura. It is a primarily French-speaking region.
The French #Winophiles are exploring the Jura this month, guided by Jeff Burrows of Food Wine Click. You can read his preview post here.
Scroll to the bottom to find the other articles written by my colleagues.
You see Comté in the name of the region; indeed, the cheese, also named Comté from the Jura, is one of the region’s most beloved. In addition, there is the delectable Morbier, Mont d’Or, and Bleu de Gex. But we will get to food and wine later. First, let’s build up an appetite!
It’s easy to do here in this region. The Grandes Traversées du Jura has multiple trails for hiking, horseback riding, and mountain biking.
The natural beauty of the Jura
The waterfalls in the region are stunning, such as Saut du Doubs, Beaumes-les-Messieurs, and La Cascade des Tufs.
If the season is right, cross-country skiing is a draw.
In fact, the famous Transjurassienne, the largest cross-country ski race in France, just concluded, happening on February 11th and 12th.
This year Jason Ruesch took first place for the men, and Coralie Bentz took 1st for the Women. Let’s raise a glass to them in celebration! You know, I reach for bubbles for this type of thing, so… Crémant du Jura it is!
Crémant du Jura AOC
The tradition of sparkling wine here goes as far back as the late 18th century, but the AOC was not founded until 1995. The AOC covers the same area as the still wine region, taking in Arbois, Château-Chalon, Côtes du Jura, and Etoile.
The allowed grapes range from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, so well known for sparkling wines, to Poulsard, Trousseau, and Savagnin, the local varieties.
Currently, almost ¼ of the wine made in the Jura AOC region is Crémant.
Arbois, the home of our Crémant, is also the hometown of Louis Pasteur. Here, the chemist focused on helping local cheesemakers and vintners avoid spoilage by encouraging good bacteria, molds, and yeasts and combating the bad ones.
Tissot-Maire – Le Grandes Familles du Jura
Tissot and Mair & Fils are well-known family wineries in Jura.
Tissot was founded in 1896 by Joseph Tissot and began making sparkling wine in 1920. In the early 2000s, they partnered with Henri Maire, where the winemaking history goes back even further. Maire & Fils began in 1632 (Yes, over 300 years, heck, in 9 years, they will hit 400!) That’s a bit of experience.
The logo for Tissot-Maire is a stylized rose pattern found on traditional wood carvings in the Jura. This pattern symbolizes the alliance intertwined between these two great Jura families.
The vineyards here in Arbois face Bourgogne, and the region’s geology is similar, so choosing to focus on the grapes of Bourgogne, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir in this sparkling wine is not unexpected. Soils here were born in the Jurassic period (hence Jura.)
Tissot-Maire Crémant du Jura Brut Lapiaz
This blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay is manually harvested and aged on the lees for at least a year. Its style is meant to evoke the rustic climate of the region. It sits comfortably in the Brut category of sweetness with 8 grams of residual sugar, which is still plenty tart and dry.
Pouring a pale lemon with fine bubbles, it had a complex nose with Meyer lemon, grapefruit pith, green apple, pear, yuzu, white pepper, and golden raisins. Yeasty notes of bread dough wafted off the nose.
On the palate, it seemed much less complex, with fruit notes of lemon and green apple, but when paired with food, it makes the food come to life.
8 grams rs – 12% abv – $17.99 (Total Wine)
Food pairing – Rösti and sides
Rösti is a dish that originated in Bern in the 16th century and is considered the national dish of Switzerland, but alpine regions across the border love this dish also.
You might think of it as a potato pancake, but there is an essential difference between rösti and hashbrowns. Rösti is made with cooked potatoes, so you don’t have to worry about your shredded potatoes turning grey, and they have a creamy smooth interior. You will need to boil your potatoes whole in their jackets a day before. The potatoes need to cool and chill for at least 8 hours before peeling and shredding to make the rösti.
Serve them plain or filled. Top them with sour cream, roasted vegetables, or an egg, accompanied by meats, cheeses, or a simple salad.
We opted for a plain rösti, topped with sour cream and a fried egg, roasted cherry tomatoes and red pepper, comté cheese, speck, and a fresh green salad.
I mentioned that this wine was beautiful with the food. It has a tartness that lingers and a warm round acidity that hits the sides of your tongue. When paired with the rösti and sour crème, the fruit notes come out in the wine, and the food, despite my tremendous use of butter, becomes bright and clean on my palate.
It is delicious, with the comté cheese bringing out a subtle bitter note that is pleasing. The speck pulls up the floral notes in the cured meat.
It also works beautifully with the roasted tomatoes, peppers, and the greens that I topped with a balsamic vinaigrette. The acidity allows me to enjoy the fried egg and rösti without having my palate weighed down by the fat.
This is definitely a food-friendly wine.
I’m excited to see what Jura wines the rest of the French #Winophiles have explored! You can read their articles below.
- Camilla at Culinary Cam shares “Lamb Sausage-Stuffed Ravioli + Domaine Rolet Arbois Vieilles Vignes Poulsard 2018”
Linda at My Full Wine Glass shares “Crémant of Jura: A traditional yet different sort of bubbly”
Lynn at Savor the Harvest shares “Change your 2023 Wine Routine, Reach for the Jura!”
Jane at Always Ravenous shares “After Dinner Sips From the French Jura to Linger Over”
Gwendolyn at Wine Predator…Gwendolyn Alley shares “Enjoying Jura’s Wine and Cuisine”
Jeff at Food Wine Click! shares “Caves Jean Bourdy and Comté Cheese: Jura Classics“
Rösti with a fried egg and roasted cherry tomatoes, and red pepper
Rösti is a dish that originated in Bern in the 16th century and is considered the national dish of Switzerland, but alpine regions across the border love this dish also.
You might think of it as a potato pancake, but there is an essential difference between rösti and hashbrowns. Rösti is made with cooked potatoes, so you don't have to worry about your shredded
potatoes turning grey, and they have a creamy smooth interior. You will need to boil your potatoes whole in
their jackets a day before. The potatoes need to cool and chill for at least 8 hours before peeling and shredding to make the rösti.
Serve them plain or filled. Top them with sour cream, roasted vegetables, or an egg, accompanied by meats, cheeses, or a simple salad.
We opted for a plain rösti, topped with sour cream and a fried egg, roasted cherry tomatoes and red pepper, comté cheese, speck, and a fresh green salad.
This pairs beautifully with a Crémant du Jura, a traditional sparkling wine from the Jura region of France.
Ingredients
- 1 lb of Yukon Gold Potatoes (2 medium size potatoes)
- 7 tbsp unsalted butter
- ½ cup cherry or grape tomatoes
- ½ large red pepper, chopped into 1-inch pieces
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 eggs
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions
- Put the whole unpeels potatoes in a medium pot and cover with cold water.
- Generously season with salt.
- Cook over medium-high heat to a simmer for about 20-25 minutes. You want to be able to pierce them with a
knife but not cook them so much that their jackets burst. - Drain the potatoes and let them cool to room temperature, then put them in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours. (You can make them up to 3 days in advance.)
- Toss your cherry or grape tomatoes and chopped pepper with 1 tbsp of olive oil and salt. Place on a lined baking sheet and back at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes.
- When you are ready to make the rösti, peel the potatoes and grate them on the large side of a box grater into a large bowl and season with salt.
- Heat 3 tbsp of butter in a 10-11 inch nonstick skillet over high heat. When the butter foams, add the shredded
potato and form it into a 1-inch circle. - Cook for about 10 minutes, creating a crisp golden brown bottom. Monitor your heat so it does not scorch,
turning it down as needed. - Find two flat plates larger than your rösti. Slide the rösti onto one plate, cover it with the other, and flip. Now add 3 more tbsp of butter to your pan to melt and foam, then slide the rösti back into the pan to cook the other
side. Another 10 minutes or so will do. - Slide it back onto a plate and cover to keep warm while you add 1 tbsp of butter and 1 of olive oil to the pan (if needed) and cook your two eggs sunnyside up.
- Serve the rösti in wedges, topped with sour crème and the fried egg, with the roasted vegetables on the side.
- A nice salad of baby greens in a balsamic dressing and some comté cheese and speck will finish off your plate.
Notes
**If you are adding a filling, you would add half the potatoes, then the filling in the center, and top with the remaining potatoes. As to fillings, I had pondered on this and would have used chopped bacon and sauteéd onions, but I was out of onions.
More on the Jura from Crushed Grape Chronicles
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine and WSET 3 Certified. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
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