Domaine Courbet, Côtes du Jura Chardonnay, “Les Rondos”

Today’s wine is a perfect example of why so many Burgundy lovers—and Burgundy makers, for that matter—are making the pilgrimage east to France’s Jura region.Aside from the fact that it is a bucolic, completely unspoiled place—with the Swiss Alps looming in the distance—the lure of the Jura is fairly obvious: If you’re a wine geek, especially one who loves white Burgundy, you can get strikingly similar Chardonnay from the Jura, grown on limestone and brimming with racy energy, for less. In the case of wines like today’s 2017 from Domaine Courbet, we’re not talking “next-best-thing” to Burgundy, we’re talking “just as good, if not better.” Especially when you factor in price, the amount of varietal purity and soil character you get in “Les Rondos” is truly extraordinary—this is a serious single-vineyard bottling with the texture and impact of Premier Cru white Burgundy, which is not something I say lightly: Having spent lots of time in the Jura and Burgundy both, I say without hesitation