Château de l’Étoile Clos du Château 2024 is a monopole Chardonnay from the L’Étoile appellation in the Jura, made from 60–70-year-old vines in a walled vineyard directly behind the historic Château. It is a fresh, precise and mineral-driven wine—taut and saline in youth, with the structure, tension and depth to develop gracefully over the next five to eight years.
Technical Details
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Producer: Château de l’Étoile, L’Étoile, Jura, France
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Wine: Clos du Château Chardonnay Monopole
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Appellation: L’Étoile AOC, Jura
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Vintage: 2024
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Grape variety: 100% Chardonnay
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Vineyard: Clos du Château, a walled monopole
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Vineyard location: Directly behind the historic Château
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Vineyard aspect: Sheltered by walls and dense vegetation
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Vine age: 60–70 years
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Soil: Marl and limestone
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Farming: Sustainable viticulture
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Harvest: Hand-harvested
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Fermentation: Indigenous yeasts in stainless steel
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Ageing: Neutral oak barrels, topped up throughout
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Malolactic conversion: Natural
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Bottle size: 750 ml
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Alcohol: 12.5%
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Production: Approximately 1,500 bottles
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Serving temperature: 10–12°C
The Producer
Château de l’Étoile is a historic estate in the Jura, with a legacy stretching back to Gallo-Roman cultivation. The estate was revived in 2024 under the direction of Louis Fourrier, a Burgundy-trained vigneron, bringing a new chapter of precision and terroir expression to the property.
The Clos du Château is one of the estate’s flagship bottlings, made from a walled vineyard directly behind the historic Château. The wine reflects the domaine’s commitment to freshness, minerality and the expression of a singular terroir.
Vineyard and Terroir
The Clos du Château is a walled vineyard, a relic of a historic castle built by Jean I of Chalon-Arlay. The walls and dense vegetation provide natural cooling, giving the wine its hallmark freshness and aromatic definition.
The vineyard’s marl and limestone soils provide the wine’s hallmark minerality and saline tension. The 2024 Clos du Château draws from 60–70-year-old vines, giving it depth, concentration and complexity.
The 2024 Vintage
The 2024 Jura growing season was challenging, with variable weather and reduced yields. Despite these difficulties, careful fruit selection and meticulous vineyard work allowed Château de l’Étoile to retain the freshness, aromatic definition and fine structure that define the vintage.
The 2024 Clos du Château is described as a wine of great potential, with a cool core of fruit framed by fine tannins and animated by lively acidity. Its monopole status and walled vineyard give it a distinctive identity within the Jura.
Winemaking and Ageing
The Chardonnay is hand-harvested and fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel, preserving the integrity of the plot. The wine is then transferred to neutral oak barrels and topped up throughout ageing, maintaining a fresh, non-oxidative style.
Malolactic conversion occurs naturally, adding a subtle roundness to the wine’s structure without obscuring its mineral core. This approach allows the vineyard’s expression to remain at the forefront, with the oak providing only a gentle framework.
Tasting Profile
The 2024 Clos du Château opens with a fresh, mineral-driven nose of lemon, green apple, white peach, oyster shell and flint. The palate is incisive and energetic, with vibrant acidity, saline minerality and chalky texture.
The finish is long, saline and persistent, with a balance of fruit, tension and minerality that makes the wine both approachable and compelling. Its walled-vineyard terroir gives it a distinctive identity within the Jura, while its Burgundian precision adds refinement and elegance.
Aroma and flavour: lemon, green apple, white peach, oyster shell, flint, citrus blossom, limestone minerality and subtle floral notes.
Palate: medium-bodied, incisive and energetic, with vibrant acidity, saline minerality, chalky texture and a long, precise finish.
Style: a fresh, terroir-driven Jura Chardonnay—clean and non-oxidative in style, with the tension and precision to develop over time.
Drinking Window
The 2024 Clos du Château is approachable on release but benefits from a short period of cellaring. Its saline, stony character and fine structure give it the balance to develop gracefully over the next five to eight years.
Serve it cool at 10–12°C and allow it time in the glass to open, as the wine’s full aromatic complexity and mineral depth emerge with aeration.
Food Pairing
Serve at 10–12°C with oysters, raw shellfish, sea urchin, langoustines, crab, sushi and sashimi. Its saline finish and citrus precision also make it excellent with grilled fish, white asparagus, poultry in cream sauce, and young or lightly aged goat’s cheese.
For a more contemplative pairing, serve it alongside aged Comté, Beaufort or a delicate truffle dish, allowing its nutty, chalky complexity to come forward.
Collector Note
This is a rare, monopole Chardonnay from one of the Jura’s most historic estates, made from 60–70-year-old vines in a walled vineyard directly behind the historic Château. The Clos du Château is produced in limited quantities—around 1,500 bottles per vintage—and its indigenous fermentation, neutral oak ageing and balanced elevage make each release distinctive.
The combination of Louis Fourrier’s reputation, the marl and limestone terroir of L’Étoile and the freshness of the 2024 vintage makes this a compelling choice for collectors seeking age-worthy, terroir-driven Jura with long-term development potential.
Recommended serving: open and allow 30–60 minutes in a large white-wine glass before serving at 10–12°C to reveal its full aromatic complexity and mineral depth.
