2011 Arbois Pupillin Blanc
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Tasting notes
There is yet one more bottling of Chardonnay chez Overnoy, a bottle sealed with gray wax that has only been produced a couple of times before. I tasted it at the excellent La Dilettante restaurant in Beaune. The 2011 Arbois Chardonnay (gray wax) had a skin-contact vinification for a couple of weeks, but the distinct feature here is that the wine had a nine+-year élevage in barrel, apparently ouillé (topped up); but I wonder if the aging had been more oxidative (in the Sherry way) rather than biological (flor), because the wine shows a very different profile. To start, it displays a dark amber/brown color (and a lot of sediment), and the nose reminds me more of a Fino Sherry than anything I've ever tasted from Jura, with notes of white chocolate and esparto grass, really coming through as a Fino with years in bottle (but this was not fortified, of course!), with a sensation of sweetness in the shape of peach but without having any sugar.
Critic scores
Robert Parker
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
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I tasted the 2011 Arbois Pupillin Chardonnay from barrel (it is not yet bottled), but the wine is blended and ready to be bottled, so this should be pretty representative of the final wine. It has a nutty nose with plenty of spices, a hint of oak and some earthy tones. The palate is extremely mineral, sharp and straight, with great acidity and no fruit -- just some balsamic flavors. This will be released in 2016, as they expect to bottle it in June-July 2015 (I tasted it in April). With time in the glass, there were some fennel and wild herb aromas, and also a citric character. 2011 seems to be a superb vintage for this wine. There are 16 barriques of this wine.