A few years back I visited a well known domaine in Burgundy. The proprietor asked me where I’d been before. I told him I’d been to the Jura. His response surprised me: ‘Why did you go there? It’s just a minor region.’
Small French Wine Regions That Pack A Punch
Until recently, the Jura was dismissed by many as a quirk on France’s viticultural map. Wine students learned about Vin Jaune - the famed Savagnin aged under flor (sous voile) that comes in smaller than standard bottles - but that was about it.
Things have changed though. The Jura has become a hot spot for natural winemaking in particular, and some of the star names here and their hard-to-get wines have ignited interest in the region and its grape varieties. To an extent, the same can be said of neighbouring Savoie.
The Jura wine region is small, with just 2,000 hectares under vine - for context, the Côte d’Or has around 8,000. However, Jura was almost ten times the size before phylloxera, the dreaded grapevine pest, hit.
Located to the east of Burgundy, towards the border with Switzerland, the Jura wine region shares limestone as its main soil theme, along with varying amounts of clay. There are five grapes that excel in the Jura:
- Chardonnay
- Pinot Noir
- Savagnin, a unique white variety
- Poulsard, a red grape, sometimes called Ploussard
- Trousseau, another distinctive red grape
The Pioneers Of Jura Wine
Here are some of the big players in the world of Jura wine at the moment, who are helping to shake up the French wine landscape.
Pierre Overnoy
In the natural wine world, Pierre Overnoy is legendary. Pierre took over his family's farm in Pupillin in 1968, and switched from polyculture to growing just vines. He went to study oenology in Burgundy, but when he applied the new ways of winemaking he learned, he recognized that something was missing from the wines.
A meeting with natural wine consultant Jacques Neauport led him to start making wine without adding sulfites, and he’s not added any since 1986, which was the early days of the natural wine movement. Pierre is still involved in the Domaine, but in 2001 he handed over his to nephew Emmanuel (Manu) Houillon, who’d been working full time with him for four years.
Such is the legend of Overnoy that these wines are now cult, selling for silly prices on grey market internet sites. But this is a fairly recent phenomenon: a decade ago you could buy these exquisite Jura wines at more down-to-earth prices.
Jura legend Pierre Overnoy studied oenology in Burgundy, but when he applied the new ways of winemaking he learned, he recognized that something was missing from the wines.
Adeline Houillon and Renaud Bruyère
Manu’s sister Adeline Houillon, together with her partner Renaud Bruyère also have their own Domaine which they began in 2011 with a small parcel of 0.7 hectares. Adeline worked with her brother, and Renaud also worked with Manu for three years before spending seven years with another Jura pioneer Stéphane Tissot. They have grown their holdings to four hectares and work naturally in the cellar.
Jean-Francois Ganevat
Another Jura legend is Jean-Francois Ganevat, who makes a range of Domaine wines as well as running a negociant business with his sister - Anne et Jean-François Ganevat - a range of juicy, eye-catchingly labelled bottlings, which commonly blend together wines from different regions, and are labelled Vin de France.
Until 1976 the Ganevat family raised cows as well as growing vines, but since then all the attention has been on the vineyard and cellar. Jean-François, began working alongside his father before heading to wine school, followed by a nine-year spell working with Domaine Marc Morey in Burgundy. Since his return to the family estate in 1998 he’s grown the vineyard holdings to 13 hectares, and started to farm biodynamically.
The winemaking is mainly pretty natural, with no sulfur dioxide used during vinification since 2006, and just small additions to Florine and Les Billats at bottling. The whites spend a long time on lees and are aged for extended periods in barrels and amphora. Typically, more than 30 cuvées are released each vintage, and they are highly sought after.
I visited Ganevat in 2017 and it felt like a pilgrimage. The reds are fantastic, but it’s the whites that are, to me, the standouts.
Both Chardonnay and Savagnin sing here. It is astonishing how these wines, vinified for at least two years without any added sulfites, can have such purity and concentration.
Philippe Bornard
Philippe Bornard is another natural producer who has developed a cult following. Based in Pupillin, near Arbois, he took over his father’s vineyards and was advised by Pierre Overnoy to begin making his own wines. He farms biodynamically and his Point Barre Ploussard is a gem of wine.
Stars of the Savoie
Savoie wine is a little less fashionable than wines from the Jura. Savoie also contracted in size dramatically post-phylloxera, and a group of natural wine producers are showing that it has the right combination of terroirs and grapes to make compelling wines. Stars of the Savoie wine world include:
Dominique Belluard
My favourite producer is Belluard, who is based in the distinctly alpine Haute-Savoie. Dominique Belluard converted to biodynamic farming and specializes in an obscure local variety called Gringet, which he ferments in cement eggs.
Dominique Lucas
Another Haute-Savoie star is Dominique Lucas, who owns Les Vignes De Paradis, with vines planted in Crépy and Marin, as well as 2.5 hectares from a family domaine in Burgundy. He opted not to work on the family estate because he wanted a be more freedom than you get under Burgundy’s strict AOC rules. He’s making an array of compelling and textured wines in Savoie, where he specialises in Chasselas, but also grows Chardonnay, Savagnin, Pinot Gris and Chenin Blanc, as well as Gamay.
The ranks of natural/authentic winegrowers of note in both the Jura and Savoie are growing, which is a good thing, because such is the interest in these regions that the small production wines from the best known growers can be extremely hard to get hold of.
Natural Wine at The Sourcing Table
Many producers of these emerging varieties of French wine from the Jura and Savoie regions pride themselves on using biodynamic or natural wine-producing practices.
Natural wine is wine made in the vineyard, and offers an honest, pure expression of its natural environment. Discover the beauty of the Jura and Savoie wine regions via their natural expressions.
Explore the full collection of natural wine available at The Sourcing Table here.
