The
Jura wine-growing region is the only one to offer five colours of
wine: red, rosé, white, straw and yellow, made from five different grapes
of which the Savagnin, the Trousseau and the Poulsard are peculiar to the
Jura.Red: Pinot noir and Trousseau,
Rosé: Poulsard or Clairet,
White: Chardonnay,
White: Savagnin,
White: Chardonnay-Savagnin blend,
Straw: Chardonnay-Savagnin-Poulsard blend,
Yellow: Savagnin.
Yellow wine is made from the ‘Naturé’ or Wild Savagnin only. Experts on grape varieties all agree that it is related to the white Traminer of Alsace which has virtually died out now, and is a cousin of Gewurztraminer which allegedly originated in the village of Tramin in the Italian Tyrol.
Jura wine-growers of the oral tradition believe that the Naturé or Savagnin was brought from Hungary by nuns, but research tends to argue that the reverse was true, in other words that this grape emigrated from the Jura to Hungary.
It is also believed that vines which were left to go wild are the origin of the Savagnin grape.
No certainties, then, and the first of many mysteries...
The Savagnin grape is recognisable by its orbicular, relatively unserrated leaves and its compact bunches of small grapes, the thick, tough skin of which may become covered in Botrytis Cinerea (a microscopic mould) which is actively involved in promoting over-ripening.
The grape flesh is very sweet and aromatic and provides sufficient constituents to allow lengthy cask-maturing. The Jura is virtually the only region in which the Savagnin grape, which is low-yielding and susceptible to abortion, is grown.
