Vin jaune (
French for "yellow wine") is a special and characteristic type of white
wine made in the
Jura region in eastern
France. It is similar to dry
fino Sherry and gets its character from being matured in a barrel under a film of
yeast, known as the
voile, on the wine's surface.
Vin jaune shares many similarities with Sherry, including some
aromas, but unlike Sherry, it is not a
fortified wine. The wine is made from the
Savagnin grape, with some of the most premium examples coming from the
marl based vineyards in the
Château-Chalon AOC. In other
French wine regions, there has been experimentation in producing similar style wines from
Chardonnay and other local
grape varieties using cultured yeast such as the
vin de voile wine produced in the
Gaillac.