Domaine de la Loue (Catherine Hannoun) - La Brute Arbois Jura AOP 2022 750ml (12% abv)

When Catherine Hannoun first came to the Jura as a member of a film crew (she was the producer of the (in)famous wine documentary, Mondovino), she was smitten. She returned to Paris, but there was nothing she could do about the pull and decided to pack up her daughter and move. She eventually landed an internship with Pierre Overnoy and Manu Houillon in Pupillin, learning how to make wine. Eventually, she was able to buy a small parcel of land in Pupillin, right around Overnoy's ("When you grow organic, it's just as important who is above and to the sides of you" she tells us) and set up shop in the cellar of a friend, producing a miniscule amount of wine. She works very little land in order to fully learn what she is doing. Catherine only makes white wine and Crémant for now, because she confesses that she is not confident about working with Poulsard after her first attempts ("It gives Manu and Pierre trouble; how am I supposed to make it? Perhaps one day").

Her domaine is named after the Loue river which rises from a spring slightly north-west of the town of Pontalier near the Swiss border and then snakes its way across the Jura to form the border between Doubs and the Jura.

100% Pinot Noir. Grapes are hand-harvested from 36 year old vines grown on limestone / clay soil. The exposure of the vineyard is South West 

Catherine recommends that La Brute is poured into a carafe before serving.

region: Jura, France

varietal: Pinot Noir

style: red

farming/cellar: hand picked, Fermented half whole cluster and half destemmed in stainless steel with wild yeasts. The vinification was semi-carbonic with the grapes being placed in a steel tank in layers (or millefeuilles) as Catherine likes to call it. The first layer was about 40 cm thick and consisted entirely of whole bunches. The next layer was also 40 cm and consisted of destemmed grapes. This pattern was repeated until the tank was full. After macerating for 6 weeks, the juice is pressed and racked back into stainless. Bottled unfined, unfiltered with no SO2.

pairing: bone marrow toast