Anne et Jean-Francois Ganevat Cotes du Jura Fortbeau 2018

Fortbeau comes from a single plot of old-vine Chardonnay planted on the grey Lias marl that runs through so much of the Jura's finest ground — the kind of site Jean-François Ganevat and his sister Anne treat with almost monastic patience. The grapes ferment slowly and entirely on native yeasts, with no fining, no filtration, and not a milligram of added sulphur, before the wine settles into foudre for close to three years. It's textbook Ganevat: an unhurried, minimal-intervention process that lets a single vineyard speak for itself rather than smoothing it into something more conventional.

And speak it does — loudly. The nose bursts from the glass on opening with oxidative notes of toasted sesame and fresh walnut, before settling into a second wave of floral, mineral finesse. The palate has real grip and tension, fleshy and saline, with white fruit and spice carrying through an impressively long finish.