The Cult

1/September/2023

Though Jura is the smallest wine region in France, it is a CULT-LIKE entity with its most passionate followers. 'Goût de Jaune', a house of worship dedicated to Jura wines, is located in Akasaka, Tokyo, on a basement floor of a building.

We asked Shohei Miura, the owner, a wonderful sommelier, and also a fanatic - 'Jura's priest', “what made Jura become a CULT?”

Written by Sunhee Oh

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Shohei, please tell us about your career and how you started as a sommelier.

- I originally started my training at a cocktail bar in Nagoya (Japan), which also had a small selection of wine. Back then, I was not interested in wine at all, I was studying whiskey, other spirits and cocktails. I also won many prizes in cocktail competitions.

At that time, I often drank and talked with my bartender colleagues. They told me that “bartenders should study wines as well, and to become an official sommelier would be essential in the future.” Thus, I started my wine study.

After that, I went to Shanghai and worked at a wine and cocktail bar, which was when China surpassed Japan in imports of French wine. I could enjoy many more kinds of wine.

I then moved back to Japan and worked in Tokyo at various restaurants and bars. From that period, I ended up collecting a lot of Jura wines (laughs). Finally, in 2017, I opened Goût de Jaune.

So you opened Goût de Jaune around 2017, what made you decide to open a wine bar

-I've always known that I wanted to work surrounded by things that I love, and to me, that was Jura wines. I realised it after visiting Jura many times. Turning 40, it was a good time to open a place.

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Goût de Jaune is a wine bar focused only on 'Jura' wines. To limit the concept of a bar and indeed yourself to one specific region, is such bold and courageous behavior. What makes Jura wines and the region special to you?

-Partly it's because the Jura is similar to my hometown of Nagano, Japan (laughs). But frankly, I think it's because the flavors of Jura wines are my favorite, especially Vin Jaune. Before that, I liked Burgundy and old Champagne, but after drinking Vin Jaune, it changed 180 degrees.

Please tell us about the characteristics of Jura wines in your opinion. (We assume that the environment of the Jura region; climate and soil, creates different flavors from other regions)

-In addition to the climate and soil, the aging method, and most importantly the aging with Sous Voile(yeast that sits on the surface as it needs oxygen) also make Jura wines unique. Recently, wine producers from other countries are trying to emulate Jura wine aging methods. In addition to that, long-term aging with Ouille(a technical term meaning topped up), as Pierre Overnoy does, also gives the wine a unique character.

You must have visited a lot of wineries in Jura, do you have a favorite maker or winery that stands out in your mind?

-I still remember that shaking feeling that I was so impressed when I visited Overnoy for the first time(lol).

At Jean Bourdy, right after I told them I like Vin Jaune, they immediately let me taste a Vin Jaune from the 1950s. With its truffle-like flavor, it just blew me away. And of course, the other producers were all so nice, not to mention I respect them a lot as well.

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You are not only a great sommelier, but also a fantastic chef of French food. Your French cuisine is as good as that of a professional’s, your Chinese food is just as good. I have always felt that sesame oil and spicy foods are difficult to pair with wine. But thanks to your pairing of highly oxidized Savagnin with sesame oil and Trousseau with spicy food I think my old mystery has been solved! What made you decide to start pairing Chinese food with Jura wines?

-For the first few months after I opened Goût de Jaune, I only served Chinese food once a week, just as my hobby, with one dish on the menu. Then, as word spread, I gradually expanded the menu to what it is today. The inspiration for incorporating Chinese cuisine into Jura wines has to do with an ingredient in Vin Jaune called sotolon, which is an ingredient in Shaoxing wine (Shàoxīng jiǔ) and other wines. Many people feel like they're drinking Shaoxing wine when they drink Vin Jaune.  In that way, I thought Jura wines and Chinese cuisine could go well together, so I decided to pair those at Goût de Jaune.

We can't talk about Jura without Comté cheese. I still remember the taste of a Comté aged for over 60 months that I tasted in Goût de Jaune. Tell us about the pairing of Jura wines with Comté cheese.

-The main reason why Jura wines and Comté cheese go so well together is that they have common flavors. You can taste the walnut and almond flavors that are present in the Sous Voile (which means 'under a veil' where a layer of yeast forms on the top of the wine) white wine or Vin Jaune in the Comté. Please try it with Vin Jaune. You can enjoy it even better if you arrange the aging month of the Comté according to the aging year of the wine.

Jura has a reputation for being difficult for wine beginners. It seems to be the last wine to be reached by those who have tasted all the wines and established their own tastes. What wines do you recommend to the beginner of Jura wine?

-I, myself am a good example of that ‘taste’ journey. I tried a lot of wines from all over the world and Jura was my final destination. 

Of course, a lot of people come to my bar like Jura wines. But I know there are also a lot of people who don't prefer wines like Sous Voile or Vin Jaune because of different tastes. It doesn’t matter which wine you start with, but if you've never had a Jura wine before, I think it's important to consider the context and conditions. For example, if you're drinking Vin Jaune for the first time and it's a hot summer day outside without a meal, the flavor and aroma of Vin Jaune can be tiring. If you enjoy a delicate wine like Poulsard, but with a blood-dripping steak, slathered in a rich sauce, the flavor of the wine would easily disappear. The first time you drink Jura, please enjoy it with food, with a favourite friend or lover, at a place where a sommelier you trust is. I'm sure you will become a fan of Jura wines.

As a sommelier, your service and manners put guests at ease. You seem to know how to keep the right distance and be polite to your guests. Do you have any memorable guests who have visited Goût de Jaune?

-There are too many. Haha. I appreciate it when people come up to me and enjoy talking to them as much as possible. There was a guest who came to Tokyo for travel and came every day during his stay.  I was very impressed.

Do you enjoy wine from other regions? Do you also like other types of alcohol, such as sake or beer?

-When I go to my friend's bar, they serve me Jura wine because they care about me, so I mostly drink Jura wine. But I also drink wine from other regions as well for sure. As I said in an earlier question, I studied to be a bartender. So, of course, I drink alcohol other than wine. Recently though, I don't order beers for myself, I only drink if someone else orders it for me.

Do you remember the first time you had a Jura wine? Could you tell us what it was?

-The first Jura wine I drank was actually Vin Jaune. I already knew the name because I read about it in a wine book but had no chance to try it. At that time, the importation of Spanish Jambon was banned in Japan, I took a class on pairing Jambon with Sherry held by Japan Sommelier Association. On the way home after class with a bunch of different wines to try to match different types of Jambon with different wines. And Vin Jaune was there. I was completely hooked from then on. It was over 20 years ago.

If Jura wines are to the wine world what David Lynch or Jim Jarmusch's cult films are to the film world, what do you think has allowed Jura wines to develop into such a cult-like genre, other than the relatively small number of vineyards or production?

-There are two big reasons.

(1) the presence of Overnoy.

(2) the existence of a distinctive Vin Jaune wine.

I can easily know from the customers who come to our bar that Jura wines are now loved by people all over the world. This, I think, has to do with the prevalence of natural wines outside of Jura. And then there's the Overnoy wine from Jura, which is something that everybody goes through at some point. Now, Overnoy wine is one of those wines that people all over the world want to drink, and it's not readily available, but a decade ago, you could buy it in a wine shop with relative ease. And it was quite inexpensive too. That's when a lot of people became a fan of natural wines because they were so very attractive. Due to the information overload, now many people just see the name Overnoy and want to drink it, I'm afraid.

Maybe Jura’s unique flavor itself creates cult followers? It's a polarizing flavor, those who love it love it, those who hate it hate it. But isn't that what makes Jura wines so appealing and draws people in?

Finally, one last drink before you die, which wine would you drink?

-I've been asked this question a lot. It's hard to choose. Depends on the time of my death! Haha. I have some wines from 1800s in my collection, and if I were to die right now, I would want to taste them all, though it's just a sip of each.

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Goût de Jaune : 〒107-0052 Tokyo, Minato City, Akasaka, 2 Chome−19−4 @shohei_miumiu1109

Photo by Aya Kawachi (1~10)