Jean-Francois Jacouton - "TENTATION" Marsanne / Chasselas 2022 IGP Ardeche 750ml (12% ABV)
WINE CLUB SELECTION - MAY 2024
Jean-François is the only Saint-Joseph producer at Vion, just north of Tournon.
from the importer: "As a young boy, Jean-François worked alongside his grandfather, in their family parcels in the Saint Joseph lieu-dit Sainte Epine ... Jean-François fully took over the family vineyards in 2003, while also working in Côte-Rôtie, Hermitage, and Savoie, and then began Domaine-bottling in 2010. His Saint Joseph holdings include older vines (in lieux-dits Les Goutelles, Verset Est Paradis, and Tinal) that produce a stunningly dense Saint Joseph Rouge he labels Pierres d'Isserand. Farming lutte raisonnée with horses and hand plowing, Jean-François is a true vigneron, spending almost all of his time in the vines. He is also reconstructing some of the old stone terraces that went to forests after phylloxera, similar to what Thierry Allemand is doing in the Chaillot terraces of Cornas.
Jacouton also still farms apricots, cherries, and peaches (which has been the history in this region with Verset, Chave, and others) so beneficially his wine cellar is an old fruit warehouse on the granite plateau above the vines. The temperature of this cellar can be dropped to zero degrees Celcius, allowing him to work with lower levels of SO2 while maintaining cleanliness and precision. His vinification and aging is in cement, amphora, demi-muids, and larger foudres, and done parcel by parcel using only 15-25% new wood so the whites are sexy and polished but still show restraint
soil is granite & alluvial, 20 year old vines
medium plus body, herbal and savory, cool & classy, mineral driven core, for fans of Sancerre or Chablis
region: Northern Rhone, France
varietal: 75% Marsanne 25% Chasselas
style: mineral white
farming/cellar: practicing organic, hand picked, Whole bunch direct pressing. Alcoholic and malolactic fermentation, aging on the lees with light batonnage, Aged 10 months
pairing: oysters, cheese board,