German
15 rue de la Mirode
39600 Les Arsures
Winery Size: 5 Hektar
Julien’s story is, unfortunately, almost a rarity in the Jura these days. The vines he now owns were originally planted by his grandfather and later tended by his father. However, the grapes were always delivered to the local cooperative, since bottling and independent marketing do not yet have a long tradition in the Jura—partly because it is difficult to get out of the cooperative’s contracts. Fortunately, the Crinquands were able to do so, and with Julien, there was a successor willing to take on the challenging task starting with the 2019 vintage.
Julien learned his craft from none other than the legendary Fabrice Dodane of Domaine Saint Pierre. This seems to have prepared him well, and his mentor’s style can be detected to some extent in his wines. The red wines are fermented in neutral tanks with minimal punching down to keep the tannins delicate, and are then aged in used oak. He lets the white wines settle overnight before transferring them to used 500-liter barrels. Julien doesn’t want too much lees during fermentation so that the wines retain their focus and clarity, and he tops off the barrels to preserve his reductive style..