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Appellation · France

Côtes du Jura

The Jura’s regional appellation, running the length of the region and covering every style it makes.

Côtes du Jura AOCcontinentalcool
What to expect in the glass

Whites from clean and citrussy to intensely nutty and oxidative; reds pale, light and savoury. Nothing here tastes like the mainstream, which is the point.

About Côtes du Jura

Côtes du Jura is the regional appellation, running the length of the region and covering red, white, rosé, sparkling, vin jaune and vin de paille.

The Jura is tiny — under 2,000 hectares, about a fiftieth of Bordeaux — and it sits between Burgundy and Switzerland on marl and limestone at 250–400 m.

It has been disproportionately influential over the last two decades. Its oxidative whites, pale reds and low-intervention traditions arrived exactly as fashion moved that way, and demand now considerably exceeds what the region can produce.

What the name means

Legal name
Côtes du Jura AOC
Type
Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée / Protégée (AOC / AOP)
Set by
INAO
Recognised
1937
Regulates
Origin, plus grape varieties, maximum yields, minimum ageing.

The delimited area, permitted varieties, maximum yields, minimum alcohol, pruning and training methods, and in many cases minimum ageing. Administered by INAO.

Grapes

Wines from here

sparkling

Crémant

Traditional-method French sparkling wine made outside Champagne, from Alsace, the Loire, Burgundy, Limoux and elsewhere.

white

Jura Savagnin and Chardonnay

Jura whites made either topped-up and fresh, or deliberately oxidative — two opposite philosophies from one cellar.

white

Vin Jaune

Jura Savagnin aged six years under a yeast film without topping up — intensely nutty, savoury and unlike any other dry white.

Rules worth knowing

Confirmed in the EU register

Côtes du Jura is registered as a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), file number PDO-FR-A0155, protected at EU level since 1973.

Article 107 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013

Specification published: Official Journal C 49, 9.2.2023 · Official Journal

Only the rules that change what to expect in the glass or on the label. WineHQ does not reproduce production specifications, and each entry carries the date it was last checked because appellation rules change.

The designation is confirmed above. WineHQ has not read this appellation’s production specification, so it publishes no yields, ageing minima or permitted-variety lists for it — those come from the document linked above, not from a summary of it.

What to eat, and how to serve it

Derived from this region’s signature styles. Each is listed separately, because a region does not have one serving temperature.

Jura Savagnin and Chardonnay

Serve at 11–14°C (lightly chilled).

Try with fillet steak, salmon or salmon in a cream sauce.

Vin Jaune

Serve at 14–16°C (cellar cool).

Try with salmon, salmon in a cream sauce or vegetarian dishes.

Crémant

Serve at 7–9°C (fridge cold).

Try with quiche and tarts, before dinner, with something small or fillet steak.

Where to go next

Places worth trying if you like this one — neighbours, rivals, and the obvious step across.

  • Arbois — The Jura’s largest appellation, and the town where Louis Pasteur worked out what fermentation actually is.
  • Château-Chalon — An appellation that exists for one wine only — vin jaune, aged six years under a yeast film and bottled in a 62 cl bottle.
  • Savoie — Alpine vineyards producing light, high-acid whites from local varieties, most notably Jacquère and Altesse.

Sources

Sources consulted