Tasting Context

Three whites on the table, three completely different expressions of place and winemaking. The perfectly aged Raveneau Les Clos (2008) showed its Chablis pedigree—iodine, chalk, and great length. The Bernard Bonin Limozin (2020) delivered ripe Meursault creaminess and Bonin’s polish. But the 2018 Miroirs “I Need the Sun” was the one I kept coming back to—pure, floral, sappy, and utterly distinctive. Its sun-baked citrus oil and tea-scented lift paired effortlessly with a sushi lunch.

Wine Information

• Producer: Domaine des Miroirs

• Vintage: 2018

• Cuvée: “I Need the Sun”

• Appellation: Vin de France (Jura origin)

• Grape Variety: 100% Chardonnay (skin-macerated)

• Farming: Organic

• Vinification: Whole-berry two week maceration on skins

• Élevage: Old barrels, two year élevage, no fining or filtration, minimal SO₂

• Production: Extremely limited—estate total output ~500 cases/year

Vintage Overview – 2018 in Jura

After a frost-hit 2017, 2018 was a gift to Jura growers—warm, sunny, and generous, producing healthy yields and ripe fruit without losing freshness. Harvest took place under clear skies, and the best wines achieved a rare combination of concentration and tension. Chardonnay in particular benefited from the warm season, delivering stone fruit ripeness alongside the region’s signature mineral cut. For skin-macerated whites, 2018 provided ideal conditions: clean fruit, balanced phenolic maturity, and natural aromatic lift.

Winemaker Profile – Kenjiro Kagami

Kenjiro Kagami’s journey to the Jura was anything but conventional. Originally an engineer at Hitachi in Japan, he moved to France in the early 2000s to study viticulture in Beaune. He trained at Domaine Comte de Vogüé in Burgundy, worked with Thierry Allemand in Cornas, and absorbed the free-spirited, low-intervention approach of Bruno Schueller in Alsace. In 2011, with help from neighbor Jean-François Ganevat, Kagami established Domaine des Miroirs in the tiny village of Grusse, in the Sud-Revermont. His ~3 hectares of vines are farmed organically, worked by hand, and yields are minuscule—just a few hundred cases across all cuvées each year. The domaine has become a cult reference for precision, purity, and transparency of terroir.

Vineyard Overview – Sud-Revermont, Jura

Kagami’s vines are in steep, limestone-rich parcels around the village of Grusse, in the southern part of the Jura. The Sud-Revermont is cooler than the central Jura, with a mix of clay-limestone soils and marl that produce wines of tension and lift. All vineyard work is manual, with a focus on biodiversity and soil health. Grapes for “I Need the Sun” come from select Chardonnay plots that achieve both phenolic ripeness and aromatic freshness, essential for the style.

Tasting Notes

• Appearance: Deep gold with amber hue from skin contact.

• Nose:

  • Orange peel, grapefruit zest, and marzipan

  • Bergamot, white tea, and almond skin

  • Subtle stone fruit—nectarine and apricot skin

• Palate:

  • Medium weight, with a tea-like tannin from skin maceration

  • Sappy stone fruit and citrus oils over crushed rock

  • Phenolic grip balances the fruit’s generosity

• Finish:

  • Long, saline, and citrus-oiled, fading into almond blossoms

Overall Impression:
The most pure, floral, and sappy sun-fruited wine I’ve tasted from Jura, yet it still carried that mineral edge that defines Jura Chardonnay. The interplay of perfume and structure was intriguing—silk and stone in one glass.

Market Commentary

On release, 2018 “I Need the Sun” was priced like a rare artisanal Jura wine, not a four‑figure unicorn: government retail in Québec listed it at C$126; a French caviste showed €85; and Kagami’s Japanese importer published an SRP of ¥13,500 (ex‑tax)—all consistent with a sub‑€100–€130 primary market, depending on locale.  Secondary pricing is a different universe: the 2018 now averages around $1,050–$1,230 ex‑tax where found, with Japanese auctions guiding ¥90,000–¥160,000 and occasional retail asks far higher. 

The Wolf’s Call

If you see it for under $1,000, buy it for immediate consumption. Warmer vintages like 2018 are already at peak at seven years old, and this bottle is in a beautiful place right now—perfumed, sappy, and perfectly integrated. It will likely drink well for another three to five years, but after that the fruit will begin to fade and the balance could tilt. This is not a medium- or long-term investment play.