Tony Bornard is one of the leading wine producers in the Jura, churning out a dizzying array of cuvees every year in his winery in the tiny village of Pupillin just up the hill from Arbois.
Jura
The Jura is a fascinating area of France which is famous for great cheese (think Comte) and delicious wines. It lies close to the Swiss border yet is only a hour’s drive from the centre of Burgundy.
The pleasant town of Arbois is at the centre of the wine region but there are many small charming villages that you will want to visit once you take the time to explore the area.
The wines for which the Jura is famous are quite varied. The iconic, oxidative Vin Jaune is possibly the best known of all the wines. The Savagnin juice must be aged in wooden barrels under a veil for a minimum of six years and three months without being topped up. The veil of yeast protects the wine and helps the highly desirable oxidative notes to develop in the wine. During this time the wine develops a golden hue which is why it is called a yellow wine.
However there are also powerful white wines made from Savagnin and a variant of Chardonnay called Melon le Queue Rouge and delicate red wines made from Trousseau, Ploussard and Pinot Noir produced in this region.
The popularity of these wines is increasing dramatically, so much so that it is difficult to keep up the supply.
Jura Wine Region – Thrilling Wines
Jura Region – Introduction The Jura is the wine region that is wedged between Burgundy to the west and Switzerland to the east. It is famous for the oxidative white wines and the light, ethereal red wines. Fifteen years ago when we first visited the Jura with little knowledge of […]
Domaine des Cavarodes – Stunning wines from Etienne Thiebaud
Domaine des Cavarodes – Introduction Etienne Thiebaud commenced making his own wine at Domaine des Cavarodes in the village of Cramans in the northern part of the Jura in 2007. He makes wines of amazing purity which reflect the terroir from which they come on either side of the Loue […]
Just add oxygen – Reflections on the allure of oxidative wines
We have been thinking a lot about oxidative wines lately. There are a number of reasons for this. We have been importing Jura wines that are deliberately oxidative ranging from the Vin Jaunes that are exposed to oxygen for many years through to the table wines made from Savagnin and Chardonnay that have slight oxidative qualities.
Charles Dagand – Carlito
Charles Dagand is the owner of Carlito a small, 2.5 hectare, domaine in the heart of the Jura region of France.
Renaud Bruyère and Adeline Houillon – Stunning Jura wines
Renaud Bruyère and Adeline Houillon are young winemakers from the Jura who produce a beautiful, light, ethereal Ploussard and a lovely blended, topped-up white wine made from Chardonnay and Savagnin.
l’Octavin – Exciting wines
The l’Octavin wines are lovingly crafted by Alice Bouvot in her Arbois winery using organic grapes from her 3.5 hectares of vineyards scattered around the outskirts of that beautiful town.
Arnaud & Malou Greiner – Beautiful Jura Wines
Arnaud and Malou Greiner are talented and passionate young winemakers from the Jura region of eastern France.
Michel Gahier – Perfect Jura Wines
Michel Gahier lives in the centre of the village of Montigny-les-Arsures which lies near the central town of Arbois. The reason this is significant is that Montigny is regarded as the finest terroir for the Trousseau grape in the Jura.
Ploussard and Pupillin – Memorable Jewels of the Jura
Ploussard – Introduction Pupillin is a tiny village that lies at the heart of the Jura wine region. Here, the Ploussard grape variety is king, producing light, flavoursome wines of very high quality. There are three red grape varieties in the Jura – Trousseau, Ploussard and Pinot Noir. Trousseau is […]
While classifying wines as Vin de France gives people like Alice flexibility and an escape from grouchy, conservative tasting panels it was such a joy to drink this bottle of 2011 Dorabella made when Octavin was still able to use Arbois on the labels. The name Domaine de l’Octavin no longer appears as well - part of the same complication which means you will only see the postal code not the name of the town on current bottles.
It was still pristine and extraordinarily delicious. It had never left Arbois, travelling just a few metres in its entire life. Thanks Christophe and @chevredarbois for choosing to drink it with us.
It’s a fairly special moment when you invite people to dinner and then they bring sausages made from their own goats, their cheese and this bottle! We did do some cooking, given we had a gorgeous collection of Le Doyenné vegetables!
1 month ago
Carmen’s cheese.
Carmen the cheesemaker (she’s holding our perfect apéro for a 39° day - @jeanpierre_robinot’s Fêtembulles).
Carmen’s cheese on a delicious summer dish at @restaurant_circus.
If you are in Arbois it’s something essential to eat.
If you see a tiny herd of goats in the outer streets of Arbois heading home to be milked then you have found its source of the cheese.
1 month ago
Arbois … just subtly reminding you as you arrive in town that it was granted the first (1ere) AOC ( Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) in 1936. Actually it was the equal first wine AOC with several others. Cassis, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Cognac, Monbazillac, and Tavel were defined at the same time … Still an important reminder of the importance of Jura wines.
The actual first AOC was for Roquefort cheese, not a wine, in 1925. Comté had to wait until 1958. While the wine accolades came early surely Comté should have been acknowledged much earlier?
1 month ago
Still in June … moments at @bistrot_des_claquets in Arbois, one of our favourite places on the planet.
The calm before the lunchtime storm.
The entrée buffet
Christophe - cheese portioner extraordinaire (@chevredarbois cheese of course)
Sharing a glass of Alice Fahrenkrug‘s wine with Alice (who took some convincing)
A rare sighting of Roger on Instagram (who doesn’t yet know it’s here)
Friday is frites.
1 month ago
June 2026. A restaurant we visit every year - for the people (including here @romainquiboit and @thepocket_rocket in the background in the second photo), the beauty, the produce, the generosity, the garden walk, the impeccable cooking and the wine. Every visit is a joy of the first order something to look forward to with great anticipation knowing there will never be a moment of disappointment.
@james_edward_henry_ and @shaunbarneykelly you are geniuses!
With impeccable timing (this post is from a meal in June - sharing our French trip this year is a slow project) we can use it to share that @le_doyennerestaurant_ is coming to @orson.paris on 20 September with vegetables and more. Go and support them if you can - they are teasing to make it regular! We’ll have a post about @orson.paris eventually too - our last, very gorgeous meal in France this year. But that was the end of July and we are still in June.
2 months ago
Setting aside the stress of knowing we couldn’t eat any of this because we were about to walk into the restaurant for lunch visiting @le_doyennerestaurant_ at the weekend and shopping for vegetables at its weekend market was absolutely one of our favourite moments of our summer in France this year.
Done with the same joy, generosity and gorgeousness as every other part of this establishment the Saturday and Sunday summer markets are a brilliant addition to this grand ever-evolving project.
We were heading towards the Jura and the panier of vegetables we took with us was invaluable.
You don’t need to be eating at the restaurant to shop or eat here. We’ve always loved lunch at Le Doyenné and now we’re locked in to a weekend shopping trip each time we visit.
Congratulations @james_edward_henry_ and @shaunbarneykelly. We’re crossing our fingers it’s repeated next summer.
2 months ago