Wine in Arlay (arlay), Jura

Chateau d'Arlay ★ 4.6

Listed chateau above 22 hectares of old vines in Cotes du Jura, all surrounding the house. The range covers red, white, rose, corail, vin jaune, vin de paille, Macvin and old marc.

Tasting: Cellar door Monday to Saturday, 10am to 12pm and 2pm to 6pm; Sundays and holidays by appointment, open 2pm to 7pm in July and August. Groups by reservation.

Tip: From May to October the ticket also buys the romantic park, the fortress ruins and the 17th-century cellar with its old still.

Domaine Bourdy ★ 4.7

Arlay family estate now in its sixteenth generation, farming 10 hectares entirely in biodynamics and holding one of the deepest old-vintage cellars in the Jura.

Tasting: Cellar visits, tastings and vineyard walks; weekday visits without appointment, weekends and holidays by reservation.

Tip: The family has kept bottles back since the 19th century, and old vintages occasionally come out at tastings.

La Table de Marc Tupin, Hostellerie Saint-Germain ★ 4.3

Seventeenth-century coaching inn facing the church at Saint-Germain-les-Arlay, in the Cotes du Jura villages, with a reworked dining room and a local sourcing menu.

Tip: Arlay and its chateau are two kilometres away, which makes this the obvious lunch stop on that stretch of the vineyard road.

La Percee du Vin Jaune ★ 4.8

The Jura's winter weekend, started in 1997 by the Poligny grower Bernard Badoz. Growers from across the vineyard pour in one village's streets and a barrel of the new vin jaune is broached in public.

Pours: Vin jaune from the newly broached vintage, Chateau-Chalon, Cremant du Jura, Macvin du Jura

Tip: Attendance has settled near 45,000 over the weekend, and 2011 passed 60,000. Tickets go through the organiser's own ticketing link and average spend runs around 25 euros. Arlay is small, so take the shuttle rather than driving in.