Jean-Francois Ganevat Chardonnay Les Grands Teppes 2018

Les Grandes Teppes sits among the true flagships of Domaine Ganevat, alongside Chalasses Marnes Bleues and the estate's legendary Vin Jaune — a single-parcel Chardonnay drawn from old vines, some over eighty years of age, planted on a deep, clay-limestone terroir rich in marl. Farmed biodynamically and vinified with Jean-François's trademark patience, the wine spends an extended period ageing on its fine lees, which gives it a pale gold hue with a faint, natural haze — proof of a wine left largely to its own devices rather than polished into clarity. It's the kind of cuvée that regularly draws comparisons to grand cru white Burgundy, made by a producer who treats Jura terroir with the exact same reverence.

The nose is intense and racy, all lemon zest, crisp green apple, and fresh hazelnut over a chalky, stony frame, opening with air into salted butter, dried flowers, flint, and warm spice — a wine poised precisely on the frontier between Jura and Burgundy. The palate follows through with a direct, chiselled attack and crystalline acidity, ample yet taut, carrying real salivating minerality through to a long, saline, energetic finish.