Still in cask when I tasted in November – and this on account of the vintage’s high acidity, said Puffeney, irrespective of any delay brought on by his broken arm – a 2010 Arbois Trousseau Les Berangeres smells of semi-ripe black raspberry and fennel tinged with new leather, black tea, game and lacquer. Slightly rustic in tannin but indomitably juicy and lively, this spare but spirited red finishes with an invigoratingly tart berry edge. Pending a taste after bottling (which chez Puffeney is normally unfiltered) I suspect that this will be best savored within its first 12-18 months as its gaminess will likely grow. (And incidentally, I was not influenced in this judgment by the woodcock cadaver that I only subsequently saw maturing just above my head, hung from one of many tiny nooses Puffeney had fitted-out in his cellar for that purpose!)
Jacques Puffeney of Montigny-les-Arsures is among the Jura’s most prestigious, engaging, and (thanks to the rotund amplitude of both his torso and white-bearded visage) easily recognized vignerons, and crafts wines no less distinctive – if much less massive – than their author. With the exceptions of Pinot Noir, vin jaune, and his few sweet wines – all of which are matured in older barriques – Puffeney relies on ancient foudres, of which I have not seen such a collection as his outside of Alsace or Chateauneuf-du-Pape; and he is favorably inclined to long elevage even for non-oxidative lots, which can themselves thus come off as if influenced by flor or other living denizens of the cask. Puffeney’s reds, too – often cited as among the region’s best – are bottled significantly later than the regional norm. He farms roughly 6 acres of Chardonnay, much of it melon a queue rouge; 5 acres of Savagnin; and 7.5 acres of reds, and says that his father – who actively selected and planted at a young age – is to thank for the 50-year average age of vine Puffeney fils now enjoys.
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