'The Pope of Arbois': Jacques Puffeney

Puffeney dallied in winemaking and the Comté industry as a teenager before eventually becoming 'the Pope of Arbois', one of the top producers in Jura. And you can't get better accolades from Mr. Rosenthal than this: "Most Americans have never been exposed to the joys of wines from the Jura and the quite idiosyncratic characteristics of the Savagnin, Poulsard, and Trousseau grapes. Visiting this terrain through the wines of the great master, Jacques Puffeney, is the preferred way to enter this fascinating part of the world of wine."

2005 Puffeney Arbois Rouge Vieilles Vignes

2005 Puffeney Arbois Rouge Vieilles Vignes*

A blend of pinot noir, poulsard, and trousseau from his oldest vines on the lot. The important note here? This is one of the last vintages of his VV cuvee---Puffeney is actually uprooting some of these vines. 'Too old'.

-a touch nutty, sweet fruit, cherries, almost a little juicy with tight texture---definitely needs some time. big tannic finish. my personal favorite of the Jura-exclusive line-up. Somehow knowing this is one of the last of something wonderful makes it that much more valuable to me...
*vee-yay veen
(prononciation très simple)

2000 Jacques Puffeney Vin Jaune

Sure, you might stumble upon a forgetton Jura wine at the bottom of an expansive wine list while out to dinner, but a whole selection of Jura wines by-the-glass?

Barrel Thief, a Richmond, Virginia wine shop/bar/cafe,* decided to feature a practically never before seen by-the-glass program featuring solely Jura wines. They weren't popular with customers, nor easy to get a hold of. Hence, their existence being challenging and worthwhile. The newest 5+ entries are devoted to featuring those wines. Read on.

Puffeney (pew-feh-nay) is imported by Rosenthal Wine Merchants. According to the MadRose website, "Puffeney usually waits 8 1/2 years to make a final determination as to whether the appropriate quality level has been reached" as opposed to the usual 6 1/2.

2000 Jacques Puffeney Vin Jaune
-toasted, honeyed walnuts, lanolin, unexpectedly tannic (heck, this is practically a baby vin jaune), the walnuts really take over otp**
*disclaimer - the author is a former manager of aforementioned BT
**shorthand - on the palate