Vin Jaune

[gfron1]

One of my greatest joys is bringing foods and experiences to places that no one would ever expect to find them. I'm in a small mountain town in SW New Mexico (pop 10K and 3 hours from any major city). I run a little cheese club that has grown from 15 members to over 125 in just a year and a half.

Our next party, having been inspired by Behr's latest issue of the Art of Eating, will be Comte (I'll thrown in a Tete de Moine to let folks play with my girolle). I am also wanting to surprise the members by having a case of Vin Jaune available to really have the Jura experience. But, I had no idea how challenging it would be to find Vin Jaune. I've found some bottles at KL Wine Merchants in San Fran, but would really like a better price. Any suggestions AND any suggestions on other small touches to make this the perfect Jura night (I've not been yet).

Thanks

Rob

[gfron1]

I'm repyling to my own message - kind of like talking to myself...

Well, I ordered a case of Vin Jaune from KL Wines. 7 bottles of 95 Puffeney and 5 bottles of 96. My cheese club has no idea that I've done this with "the change" that we've collected over the past 2 years. So on Feb 2nd they're all going to sip a glass of Vin Jaune to go with our Comte. What a better use of $800?!

Cheers

Rob

Edited January 11, 2006 by gfron1 (log)

[carswell]

Here's betting the challenge of getting the vin jaune will pale beside the challenge of getting your guests to appreciate it! Someone once said you don't start enjoying vin jaune until your third encounter with it, although in my case it was love at first sip.

Along with your Comté, you should serve some walnuts; the cheese, nuts and wine truly are a marriage made in heaven.

The classic main course pairing is poulet au vin jaune. This would also be a great way to use up any leftovers. PM me if you'd like a recipe. Some people also like to pair the wine with duck à l'orange.

Though it's often drunk at the end of the meal, vin jaune usually isn't sweet enough to be considered a dessert wine. That said, it can work as an accompaniment to walnut tarts and tarte Tatin. And Arbois-based chocolatier Hirsinger has developed a chocolate specifically to accompany vin jaune:

Masse amande aux noix et au curry : Ce chocolat est conçu pour se marier au vin jaune. Il en reprend les arômes les plus caractéristiques ; la noix et le curry.

It's a cube of barely sweetened almond paste mildly flavoured with walnuts and curry powder and covered with the finest bittersweet chocolate, and it goes surprisingly well with the wine.

Edited January 11, 2006 by carswell (log)

[carswell]

While it's probably too late to be of help to you, I'll add some information I just got from a Jura native in case it's of use to someone else. He agreed with the Comté and walnuts pairing and suggested mini-brochettes (of chicken or seafood, for example) flavoured with curry powder (Patricia Wells' Simply French has a Joël Robuchon recipe for curried chicken brochettes) and preparations involving morel mushrooms. He also gave a thumbs-up to my idea of a tarte flambée, the Alsatian "pizza" topped with onions, bacon and crème fraîche, because, as he put it, savagnin likes smoky flavours and vin jaune likes cream.

[gfron1]

The big night is over! A case of 95 Vin Jaune was enjoyed (minus one bottle for my stash!). As was predicted, it was a hard sell except to our more travelled guests. Those who didn't enjoy it called it, "Medicinal" or "Herbal Bitter." My first sip, didn't enjoy. Then I put a piece of 18 month comte in my mouth and tried again. Better. By the end of the second glass I wanted more, more, more (hence the bottle that was hidden for my stash).

Thanks to all for the suggestions. We had great walnut dishes, and a wonderful time.

BTW, I learned just this morning that this weekend in the Jura Region, they were celebrating the Opening of the Vin Jaune (an annual festival)...how perfectly timed. Absolutely magical.

[gfron1]

I was over joyed when I opened my latest Art of Eating magazine. Behr did a full feature on Vin Jaune - a spin off of the article that inspired me to get the Vin Jaune in the first place. As much as I want to sip my Vin Jaune away, I'm going to cellar it for as long as I can stand...I'm saying 10 years, but we'll see