Now fully retired, Joseph Dorbon quietly produced among the region’s most soulful wines for decades, from his four hectares of horse-plowed vines in the Arbois appellation’s sleepy hamlet of Vadans. Flagrantly exceeding the category’s six-years-and-three-months aging requirement, Joseph releases his Vin Jaune only after a full ten years under the veil, and only in certain vintages (before this just-arrived 2012, we had received 2009 and 2003—and that’s it). The result is an oceanic wine of seemingly impossible power, with raging acidity wed to luscious, salt-caked yellow fruits, and given additional complexity by a raw-almond character that stops short of overt oxidation. 

Vin Jaune, which is French for "yellow wine," is made from the Jura's native Savagnin grape. It is aged for a minimum of six years and three months under a natural layer of yeast (known as voile or veil) in barrels that are not topped up, which allows the wine to develop its characteristic oxidative flavors. This is a very fine example, and quite rare. 

Pairing: Comté cheese, Roasted chicken with Morel mushrooms 

Grape: Savagnin

Soil: limestone, gravel, clay

Viticulture: Organic and Biodynamic Practicing