Archaeologists
have established that the Jura’s wine-growing region is one of the
OLDEST in France. Their research shows that there were vines
here 5000 years ago.In the sixth century BC the Phoceans came up the River Saône for Sequania’s wines. The first recorded reference to Jura wines was made by "Pliny the Younger", Roman Consul, in one hundred .BC and it was the Romans who really gave impetus to wine-growing in the Jura.
The three stars of the Jura: "Arbois", "Château-Chalon", "l’Etoile" were already known for their qualities in the first millennium.
It was King Philip the Fair who was to introduce these wines to the French Court. They were to become the favourites of Henry IV and Francis I. The poets Rabelais and Rousseau, and in more recent times Vian and Brel, were to drink the Jura’s wines and sing their praises. (Rousseau was banned from the cellars by their owner).
This wine region would become the home of inventors such as Alexis Millardet (who created the Bordeaux "bouillie") and famous scholars like the Jura-born Louis Pasteur, the father of oenology, the science of wine-making.
The vineyard reached its apogee in the 19th century when it boasted 20,000 hectares. Phylloxera and wars were to have an enormous impact and it took all the wine-growers’ steadfastness and courage to return the Jura’s vines to their rightful elevated position.
As far as Yellow Wine ("Vin Jaune") is concerned, a number of local legends trace its origins back to the Middle Ages.
But in view of the documentary evidence, it is unlikely that this wine so cloaked in mystery was developed before the first half of the 18th century, probably at Château-Chalon or Arbois.
Writings prior to 1700 only speak of "frosty-weather wines", a reference to the late harvests of the Savagnin grape which has been known in the Jura since the 13th century at least.
It is important to note that Arbois was the first A.O.C. wine in France.
