Château D'Arlay, Macvin du Jura

[Joe Riley]

Jake Parrot turned me on to these, and I was hooked from the first sip. Although the Château produces several wines, including dry wines and Vin Jaune, these were the only ones that I truly coveted, so I bought them and have them to sell now, in both 375ml and 750ml.

I'll let Jake expound upon them in better detail, but here is the basic info from the Château:

(http://www.arlay.com/affiche.asp?arbo=2&num=6)

Château d'Arlay White Macvin alc. 17% vol.

White liqueur wine. Blend of 2/3 of fresh must 50% Chardonnay & 50% Savagnin with 1/3 marc-brandy (aged for 7 years in casks), then matured for 3 years in old barrels. To be served at cellar temperature.

Château d'Arlay Red Macvin alc. 17% vol. (750 ml)

Red liqueur wine. Blend of 2/3 of fresh must 100% Pinot Noir with 1/3 marc-brandy (aged for 4 years in cask), then matured for 1 year in old barrels. To be served at moderate temperature.

These things are simply gorgeous. They are unlike any other dessert-style wine that I've ever had. A friend of mine who admires these poked fun at the growers by exclaiming that the long winters in the Jura must have produced some sort-of "cabin fever" and driven the incredibly-bored growers to experiment with this sort of thing Apparently, everyone there does these sorts of bottlings, but they don't always make it to these shores. As a result of my admiration for D'Arlay, I've begged the U.S. importers of Stephan Tissot and Jacques Puffeney to bring in some of those growers Macvins du Jura for me. When I inquired as to whether or not Puffeney's were any good, the rep. replied, "Are you serious? Jacques is the Mac(vin) Daddy! We even call him "Puff" Daddy!" So much to look forward to.

Oh, I DID also buy some of the D'Arlay "Corail" 2000, which also floated my boat.