The Jura, located in the east of France between Burgundy and Switzerland, has probably been somewhat forgotten because of its isolated location, yet it has a lot to offer. This is because it has preserved unique grape varieties and wine styles not found in other regions of France. In the 19th century, the region had just over 20,000 hectares of vines and was one of the larger areas in the country. The phylloxera disaster at the end of the 19th century, and probably the aftermath of two world wars, left just 1,500 hectares. In the warm, continental climate, clay soils and, at higher altitudes, limestone soils, grow today well-known grape varieties such as Chardonnay or Pinot Noir, which are made into dry wines and do not come close to the class of Burgundy. Much more interesting, however, are those grape varieties which, due to their isolated location, are used to produce unique wine styles. Savagnin is the grape variety from which, in all probability, Traminer and Gewürztraminer originated. It produces the speciality of the region, the "Vin Jaune", a wine very reminiscent of a good dry sherry, which can be found especially around Château-Chalon. Much rarer are red wines of the Trousseau variety or rosé wines of the Poulsard variety. A sparkling wine produced according to the Champagne method is also marketed under the name Côtes du Jura Mousseux. The steep slopes require a lot of manual labour and conscientious measures against soil erosion.
