Trousseau, Domaine Rolet
Think of this Trousseau as Pinot Noir’s slightly unruly cousin — lighter in body but louder in personality. The first thing you’ll notice is a rush of wild strawberry and raspberry, the kind that taste sun-warmed and just a touch earthy. Behind the fruit comes a streak of licorice and cracked pepper, keeping things savory and intriguing. The tannins are polished — more velvet glove than iron fist — and the finish lingers with a mocha-like softness, almost like the wine is winking at you as it leaves.
2021 was a cooler year in Jura, and that’s a gift for Trousseau. Instead of ripeness running the show, you get brightness and clarity. The old vines [many over 40 years...first the 80s were considered vintage, and now I'm an old vine??] planted on limestone and marl soils soaked up that cooler season and returned fruit that’s concentrated without heaviness. The result? A Trousseau that’s both playful and precise — juicy red fruit lifted by a backbone of minerality.
Everything here is handled gently. Fermentation starts with native yeasts and a short maceration of about two weeks to tease out color and spice without too much muscle. The wine then spends about nine months aging — half in stainless steel for vibrancy, half in neutral oak for a whisper of texture. No flashy oak here, just balance: fresh fruit sharpened by steel, smoothed by old barrels.
Domaine Rolet has been a Jura cornerstone since 1942, and they’ve built their reputation on knowing how to coax the most out of this quirky region. Now under Cédric Ducoté’s leadership, the domaine farms clean and sustainably across 65 hectares, refusing shortcuts in both vineyard and cellar. Their wines are loved by Jura insiders because they walk that line between tradition [respect for local grapes like Poulsard, Savagnin, and of course Trousseau] and precision [a focus on detail and purity]. If you want to know what the Jura tastes like without getting lost in its more eccentric corners, Rolet is your guide.
The Jura is one of France’s smallest wine regions, making barely 1% of the country’s production — but ask any sommelier and they’ll light up at the mention of it. Why? Because Jura plays by its own rules. Grapes you’ve never heard of [Poulsard, Savagnin, Trousseau] thrive here, and styles like Vin Jaune — wine aged under a veil of yeast for six years! — keep things wild. And right at the center of it all is Arbois, the town and appellation where this wine comes from. It was the first Jura AOC back in 1936 and is still considered the region’s beating heart. Small place, big personality — just like the wines.