Jura booming | Auction report

iDealwine’s online auction ending on 26th April featured something special: an entire catalogue devoted to wines from France’s Jura region. It was a first for a region whose wines had previously attracted the interest of a well-informed but select clientèle. Let’s take a closer look at what happened.

Jura has been enjoying a boost in connoisseurs’ interest for a few months now. Having long been enjoyed by a clientèle of discerning wine lovers, its target market has gradually expanded thanks to the effects of globalisation and the speed at which news now travels. Here at iDealwine’s online auction site, these wines – which have traditionally been bought by French customers – are starting to see an upswell of enthusiasm from across the Atlantic. Nowadays, the appearance of Jura wines on a New York restaurant menu is a sure sign of a forward-looking attitude. And it hasn’t taken the rest of the planet long to catch up with this new trend, either. In the last few weeks, Asia has begun to take an interest in the region’s wines; so much so, in fact, that it has snapped up most of the auction’s flagship wines from the Domaine Ganevat – and in the process triggered a bidding war with other connoisseurs, located… in Russia. And Europe has been more than just a spectator in all this, with customers from Belgium, Switzerland, Spain and the UK lining up for battle alongside the traditional French customers. The inevitable result? An increase in the value of all wines from the region, led by Overnoy, Ganevat and Macle.

Domaine Overnoy, the leading light in “natural” wines produced in the Jura, has served as the catalyst for wine lovers’ interest in this region. With older vintages now starting to appear on auction sites, prices are skyrocketing, and a 1999 example of the domaine’s Arbois Pupillin Savagnin wine have been selling for €264 (+75%), €240 for a 1997 (+33%) and a 2000 (+40%), €228 for a 2004 (+238%) and €216 for a 1998 (+150%). Not to be outdone, its Chardonnay cousin stands at €260 for a 2008 (+61%), €216 for a 2007 (+73%) and €210 for a 2007 (+68%).

The same trend can be observed among wines from Domaine Ganevat, which is also attracting avid interest from wine lovers from around the globe. Magnum sizes of Côtes du Jura did well at auction, such as a Les Vignes de mon Père 2006, which made €258, or a Cuvée Marguerite, sold for €168 in both its 2007 and 2014 vintages. Vins jaunes are selling for €120, regardless of the vintage (2006 or 2007). Château Chalon wines from the Domaine Macle have also seen their prices soar. At the 26th April sale, the 1999 made €140 (+52%), with the 1997 changing hands for €108 (+120%).

More than just a fashionable flash in the pan, the interest from such a wide range of bidders testifies to a real groundswell of demand: connoisseurs nowadays are on the lookout for rare wines, carefully-crafted masterpieces which stand out from generic wines. So it’s hardly surprising to find their thirst for discovery has at last turned the spotlight on an area known for its singular and truly unique wines.

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