# Chardonnay Jura VDF (2025)

- **Producer:** Maxime Crotet
- **Colour:** white
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Chardonnay
- **Region:** Jura, France
- **Style:** Natural
- **Alcohol:** 12.5%
- **Average price:** €40
- **Vegan:** Yes
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 10–12 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** pear, quince, stone fruit, peach, nectarine, lemon, lime, grass, butter, biscuit

## About this wine

Maxime Crotet, a native of Beaune who trained for eight years as the right-hand man to natural winemaking icon Frédéric Cossard, launched his micro-négociant project in 2021. Sourcing organically farmed fruit across France, Crotet sources Chardonnay from 30- to 35-year-old vines planted on limestone scree and Jurassic marl in Poligny, Jura. Because the harvested fruit is transported to his cellar in Beaune for vinification, the wine is bottled under the Vin de France classification.

## Interesting facts

- Classified as Vin de France because Jura grapes are transported to Burgundy for vinification.
- Maxime Crotet spent 8 years working alongside legendary natural winemaker Frédéric Cossard.
- Made in the topped-up (ouillé) style to emphasize pure fruit and minerality over oxidative flor notes.

## Food pairing

The electric acidity and fine lees texture of this topped-up Chardonnay cut through rich alpine cheeses like Comté and creamy sauces while lifting the delicate flavors of freshwater fish and shellfish.

## Wine making process

Hand-harvested in small crates, the grapes undergo direct pneumatic pressing upon arrival in Beaune, followed by a 12-hour static cold settling. Spontaneous fermentation takes place with wild yeasts in neutral French oak barrels without added sulfur or enzymes. The wine undergoes regular lees stirring during active fermentation and ages for 10 months in oak barrels with routine topping-up (ouillage) to prevent oxidation. It is bottled unfined and unfiltered with minimal sulfur.