Level 5 · Lesson 7
Alsace, Jura and Savoie: Borders, Slopes and Choices
17:20C39
Glossary
Terms that have earned their place
- Ouillé
- Topped up to limit the air space in a vessel; in Jura this contrasts with deliberate ageing under a yeast veil.
- Sous voile
- Ageing under a surface yeast veil, central to the distinctive vin jaune process.
- Clavelin
- The distinctive 62-centilitre bottle associated with vin jaune.
Keep digging
Sources and further reading
- Vosges shelter, semi-continental setting and Germanic/Roman influences; inconsistent rainfall numbers not adopted.
- Côtes du Jura specification describes vin jaune and 62-cl clavelin; packaging reference, not a fixed evaporation formula.
- Denis & Didier Berthollier Chignin Vieilles Vignes / Denis & Didier Berthollier Les Granges Tissot — producer range reference; match actual edition
- Alsace also produces red Pinot Noir.
- Public-domain country/river geometry; town locators and approximate physical-feature markers, not vineyard boundaries.
- Famille Hugel Riesling Classic — Producer range reference; match actual vintage and market edition before service
- Famille Hugel Pinot Gris Classic — Page title 2024 despite URL 2023; inspect actual bottle
- Domaine Badoz Cuvée Victoria Savagnin Ouillé — Producer range reference; match actual vintage and market edition before service
- Domaine Badoz Tradition 2023 — Producer 2023 page; 60% Chardonnay and 40% Savagnin stated; not a pure Savagnin comparison
- Principal grape identities, typical expression and regional roles; original tasting prompts.
- Chardonnay comes from Burgundy and shares Pinot and Gouais blanc parentage with several other French grapes.
- Pinot Noir comes from Burgundy, with a long history that predates modern grape breeding.
- Riesling most likely originated along the Rhine; being important in Alsace does not make it exclusively French.
- Pinot Gris is a colour mutation of Pinot Noir.
- Gewurztraminer is an aromatic, pink-skinned mutation of Savagnin. That relationship is clearer than a simple village-of-invention story.
- Pinot Blanc is a white-skinned mutation of Pinot Noir.
- Sylvaner is thought to originate in central Europe, probably Austria.
- Jacquère is native to Savoie.
- Altesse is also native to Savoie.
- Mondeuse comes from Savoie. Mondeuse blanche is a distinct grape, not merely its white-skinned version.
- Savagnin may come from Franche-Comté or the Palatinate. Its precise origin is uncertain.
- Poulsard is native to Jura.
- Trousseau also originated in Jura.
- Savoie grape identities and expressions.
- Jura grape and style foundations.
Sources support the teaching model; they do not make promotional regional descriptions universal bottle guarantees.