White wines dominate the produce of these vineyards set amid the ski slopes of the French Alps. Sparkling wines are the specialty of Savoie, while Jura can boast the rare, sweet vins de paille and the amazingly long-lived vins jaunes.
The Jura is dominated by the town of Arbois, a little alpine community reigned over by Henri Maire. His infamous sparkling "Vin fou," or "Mad Wine", has no appellation and comes in various cuvees, some are better than others, but many taste the same. Despite the lighthearted approach to its consumption, "Vin Fou" has performed one admirable function; it has introduced drinkers to this district and its many better wines. This could not have been achieved by the vins de paille and vins jaunes, due to their scarcity and high price. The very sweet vin de paille or "straw wine" is so called because the grapes were traditionally dried on straw mats to concentrate the juice into a syrup. The vin jaune or "yellow wine" derives its name from the color that results from its deliberate oxidation under a yeast flor when matured in casks that are not topped up for six years.
The vineyards in the area between Lake Geneva and Grenoble, known as the Savoie, produce some dry some white wines and remarkable sparkling wines. Though shun by foreign wine merchants, there are some quality wines produced here, clean and fresh like the mountains the grapes are grown on.
