2018 Jean-Francois Ganevat Savagnin Antide

Jean-Francois Ganevat is the 14th generation of his family at La Combe in the southern Côtes du Jura, and is widely regarded as one of the most important winemakers in France. He manages 40 distinct plots across just 8.5 hectares, vinifying each separately, with eight people per hectare to keep standards exactly where he wants them.

Savagnin is Jura's most distinctive native grape, and Antide is Ganevat's most ambitious expression of it. After fermentation with indigenous yeasts, the wine aged for 84 months on lees - seven years - in a combination of demi-muids and stoneware amphorae. Unfiltered, no added sulfites.

The result is complex and saline, with preserved lemon, walnut, and a waxy, smoky depth that could only come from extended time in the cellar. Savagnin's natural tension and grip run right through it, keeping the richness of the lees work in check.

Serious, singular stuff from a producer whose wines are increasingly difficult to find.