The cuvée Cuvée Oregane is one of the most singular wines in Ganevat's range, an assemblage of Savagnin (planted in 1977 on the blue and grey marls of Chalasses) and Chardonnay. Aged three to four years in 500-liter demi-muids and clay amphorae, on the lees, with ouillage. No fining, no filtration, minimal sulfur. The cuvée is named after Oregane, the farm horse who used to plough Ganevat's vineyards before retirement. The 2016 vintage carries the frost-marked depth of the year: tiny yields, intense concentration. Aromatically, expect fines herbes (thyme, oregano, chervil), almond, spice, poached pear, brioche, and a backbone of saline citrus. The two grapes complement: brioche and pear from the Melon à queue rouge, almond and spice from the Savagnin. Powerful, saline, built for the dinner table. Drink now through 2036. About Domaine Ganevat Jean-François "Fanfan" Ganevat is the 14th generation of his family making wine in Rotalier, in the southern Jura. After years working as cellar master for Jean-Marc Morey in Chassagne-Montrachet, he returned home in 1998 and immediately converted the estate to organic farming, then biodynamics in 2006. He now produces over 40 different cuvées each vintage from 12 hectares of vines, treating each parcelle as its own world. The wines are made with minimal intervention: indigenous yeasts, long lees aging (often 2 to 11 years), no fining, no filtration, and tiny doses of sulfur, sometimes none at all. His whites are Burgundian in spirit (he uses ouillage, topping up the barrels, rather than the traditional Jura voile), but the saline tension and herbal complexity is unmistakably Jura. Ganevat holds the rare 3-star rating in La Revue du Vin de France, the highest distinction the guide awards. Under any reasonable definition, he is one of France's greatest living winemakers.
