The l’Octavin wines are lovingly crafted by Alice Bouvot in her Arbois winery using organic grapes from her 3.6 hectares of vineyards scattered around the outskirts of that beautiful town.
The vineyards, which include some of the best lieu dits (a lieu dit is a named place that has official recognition in France) available including En Curon, La Mailloche, Les Nouvelles and Les Corvées are certified organic by Demeter as are her winemaking methods.
There are absolutely no additions to any of the wines. It is fermented grape juice with the fermentation carried out by the indigenous yeasts. She does not add sulphur at any stage nor does she filter or fine the wines. Octavin is also certified biodynamic by Demeter.
Octavin produces a bewildering array of wines in the tiny winery. Some are classical Jura wines such as the Pamina Chardonnay or the Dorabella Poulsard, while others are fascinating wines with a ‘twist’ such as the Culrond Poulsard which is vinified as a white wine even though the grapes are red or the Zerlina which is a blend of Trousseau with Pinot Noir. Octavin also makes a stunning non-appellated Vin Jaune (called Cherubin) of which we hope to receive a small allocation.
Due to weather conditions over the past few seasons and the tiny amount of wine she can make from her own vineyards, Alice has set up a négoce company which allows her to buy grapes from other regions and make wines from those grapes. Most of these wines are not made with grapes from the Jura wines but they have Alice’s definitive winemaking stamp, just as the négoce wines of the De Moors carry the hallmark of their wines. Alice and her team pick the grapes, often from the same growers each year, and then vinify the wines in her cellar.
We have identified in the descriptions below the wines that are from Alice’s Jura vineyards and those from other regions.
We currently have some new wines from Octavin which are selling fast. Get in contact if there are any you would like!
l’Octavin Betty Bulles Blanc 2024
Betty Bulles is a lively and delicious pet nat.
The wine is 80% Vermentino, 9% Roussanne, 9% Marsanne, and 2% Muscat à Petits Grains.
It is mostly sourced from Claude Ughetto in Provence but the Muscat is from Vincent Lafarge in Roussillon.
The grapes were directly pressed (each variety separately) and the juices were assembled just before bottling. It was bottled with approximately 15g of sugar. It was disgorged by hand in December 2024.
RRP: $71 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Betty Bulles Rouge 2024
The grape varieties for the Rouge of this sparkling wine are Grenache, Grenache Blanc, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Muscat à Petits Grains.
Most of the grapes are from Claude Ughetto in Provence but the Muscat is from Vincent Lafarge in Roussillon.
Each variety was vinified separately with short macerations. The pressed juices were assembled just before bottling. It was bottled with approximately 15g of sugar. It was disgorged by hand in January 2025.
RRP: $71
l’Octavin Vin de France Tamino 2021
This estate wine, which we expect will be a one-off cuvée, is from the iconic La Mailloche lieu dit just outside Arbois.
It is a blend of 60% Chardonnay, 30% Savagnin, and 10% Poulsard, harvested and vinified together.
The grapes for this wine usually make the wine Potion Magique but Alice felt it was not sufficiently typical of this cuvée to use that name (because there was so little Poulsard) so she called it Tamino instead (recycling one of the original Octavin label designs which reflected her background as a musician).
We normally classify Potion Magique as a light red but this wine feels much more like a wine made from macerated white grapes, even though there is a little Poulsard.
Quoting from French distributor Marée-Haut “The wine strikes a balance between tension and fruit, between freshness and depth. Citrus, white fruit, and a touch of spice are present. The palate is vibrant, saline, and energetic.”
Certified organic.
RRP: $117 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Ivre de Vivre 2023
All the grapes for Ivre de Vivre are from Claude Ughetto, whose vines are in Saint-Pierre-de-Vassols, a small village near Carpentras in Provence.
50% is Vermentino and the rest is a mix of Roussanne and Marsanne.
The majority of the Vermentino was directly-pressed. Whole bunches of Roussanne and Marsanne were macerated for seven days in a bath of more Vermentino.
The two vinifications were assembled after fermentation was complete. The three different varieties in this wine are beautifully balanced – not one of them dominates the wine. It was bottled in June 2024. Certified organic.
RRP: $77 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Clé à Molette 2023
Clé à Molette is made with Molette from Domaine Trichon in Bugey.
It was directly pressed and aged in tank. Intensely citrus, this wine is refreshing and full of energy.
“Cordial for people who like alcohol in their cordial” is another way of looking at it.
Certified organic.
RRP: $77 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Vin de France Dorabella 2023
This wine is made from Poulsard grapes from fifty year old vines sourced from Alice’s vines in the «En Curon» vineyard, on the outskirts of Arbois. As we have stated on a number of occasions it is interesting to see that in two villages (Arbois and Pupillin) the spelling of this grape is different (Poulsard and Ploussard).
This Poulsard was harvested in September 2023, destemmed by hand and then macerated for 20 days before pressing.
It was briefly aged in stainless steel before bottling.
It’s light, almost as if there was some directly-pressed juice (which there isn’t) with hints of not quite ripe strawberries.
Despite the light weight, it has plenty of length and finishes feeling like it’s very connected to where it came from. Certified organic.
RRP: $143 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Vin de France Commendatore
This is a Trousseau from Alice’s vines in the «les Corvées» vineyard which lies close to the village of Montigny les Arsures where the terroir is considered to be perfect for the sensitive grape variety. It is here that Puffeney and Michel Gahier tend their acclaimed vineyards of the Trousseau grape.
This lighter style of red wine has aromas of fresh strawberries, cinnamon and Sichuan pepper.
The grapes were 90% destemmed for this vintage and neither pigeage (stomping the cap down) or remontage (pumping over) were performed during the 8 months of maceration. Both vintages of this wine were bottled after the long maceration.
This wine clearly displays the minerality of the Jura soil. It is light, it is long and it is totally delicious even when matched with a semi-strong cheese with truffles!
RRP: $ (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Vin de France Corvée de T NV (22/23)
This wine is a Trousseau made from grapes from Alice’s vines in the Les Corvées vineyard which is close to the village of Montigny-les-Arsures (which is where Michel Gahier makes his lovely Trousseau wines).
The area around Montigny-les- Asures, which is quite a small village, is famous for the quality of the Trousseau produced here.
This is Alice’s lighter Trousseau that is more suited to early drinking (having said that we drank a 2011 not so long ago and it was still very much alive).
Whole bunches were macerated for two months, prior to pressing.
The wine was bottled in April 2024.
Aged in tank. Certified organic.
RRP: $117 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Reine de la Nuit 2018
Reine de la Nuit, is made from Alice’s estate grapes grown in the famous La Mailloche vineyard which is just outside Arbois. We have referred to this revered vineyard in our description of Pamina above where we mention that from the N83 highway which passes by Arbois you can see La Mailloche vineyard with relative ease.
The wine is made from Chardonnay and Savagnin grapes that were harvested by hand and stored in small crates.
In 2018 it was direct pressed to produce a lively and delicious wine that was bottled without any additions including sulphites. (Sometimes the grapes are macerated but always from the same vineyard.
The wine is certified as both organic by Ecocert France and biodynamic with Demeter. It is 12% alcohol.
RRP: $95 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Mus’Cat 2022
Sometimes with a wine made from 100% Muscat we find the floral nature of this grape variety a bit overwhelming. However there are some winemakers who can “tame the beast” and produce wines that bring the best out of this grape and this one is a great example.
For this wine Alice purchased the Muscat from the well-known natural wine maker Vincent Lafage from Saint-Jean Lasseille in Roussillon. This village is immediately below the main city of Perpignan.
Alice normally macerates the wines for 15 days but she only left them for 4 days in 2022. There is normally two varieties of Muscat namely Muscat a Petit Grains and Muscat d’Alexandrie.
The back label has a slightly different name – Muscattt!
RRP: $73 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Sly Vin Sylvaner 2021
This is a lovely wine! Alice purchased Sylvaner grapes from Alsace vigneron Guillaume Clauss (from Vins Edel Clauss), whose vineyards are to the west of Strasbourg. As always, she and her team harvested the grapes and took them back to the Jura in small crates.
It is sufficiently macerated to have detectable tannins but with a soft, aromatic beginning and mineral finish. The colour is distinctly orange.
The vineyard is in conversion for certification by Agriculture Biologique (AB).
RRP: $73 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Joker Jacquère 2021
This wine was made with Jacquère grapes grown by Nathalie Montagnon from Le Mas des Abymes in the village of Chapareillan in the Savoie. Their vineyard is in a stunning area of flat plains with sheer mountains thrusting skyward just south of Chambéry.
As always, Alice drove to this location, picked the grapes manually, loaded them into her van and took them back to her new winery in Arbois where she made the wine.
It has the freshness we’ve come to expect from wines made by Alice given the care she has taken both with the grapes she has picked and transported and with the winemaking in her winery which is very close to Arbois.
RRP: $73 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Amphore 2018
The Amphore is a Trousseau made from Alice’s estate vines which all are situated quite close to the central Jura town of Arbois.
This is also where she has built her new winery so that she does not have the space constraints that the previous site within the town imposed. We recently visited her new winery and were impressed with the space available, however, Alice now makes so many cuvees that we will not be surprised if the new space is soon full.
This wine appears quite light in the glass, but the lightness is almost a deception. Underneath the first visual impression there is length, intensity and spiciness.
It was destemmed and then macerated in amphora for an extended period before pressing. It is very rare, with less than 400 bottles made.
The wine is certified as both organic by Ecocert France and biodynamic with Demeter.
It is 12% alcohol.
RRP: $95 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Grenabar 2023
This is another wine made from grapes that were harvested, vinified and bottled by Alice from grapes grown by Claude Ughetto, as described below for the Ganache wine, whose vineyard is beside the cemetery in Saint Pierre de Vassols, which is not far from Carpentras in Provence.
Whole bunches were macerated for 10 days prior to pressing. It was bottled in June 2023. It might be psychological based on the name but this wine reminds us of Pomegranate (grenadine in French). Certified organic.
RRP: $70 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Ganache 2022
This wine is made entirely with Grenache from Claude Ughetto (Saint-Pierre-de-Vassols, Provence).
Whole bunches of a part of the wine (25%) were macerated in a bath of directly-pressed Grenache for 7 days. The other 75% was macerated for one month more traditionally.
It was bottled in June 2023. Certified organic
RRP: $71 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Raph-Noel 2017
This wine is made from 100% Gamay grapes sourced from Raphael Beysang in the south of Beaujolais.
Alice drove to the vineyard, picked the grapes then returned to her winemaking facility in Arbois in the Jura to make the wine.
The whole bunches were macerated for 45 days before pressing. The wine was bottled in May 2018.
RRP: $67 – (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Potion Magique 2019
Alice has made this wine from Poulsard, Chardonnay and Savagnin all harvested from Alice’s vines in the La Mailloche vineyard on the outskirts of Arbois.
While most of her estate wines are single variety she does blend occasionally, but always only if the grapes are from the same vineyard.
The whole clusters were macerated for two months prior to pressing.
The wine is certified as both organic by Ecocert France and biodynamic with Demeter. It is 13% alcohol.
We can’t do better than quote Tutto Wines on this occasion “This is just the most incredible colour, with wild aromas of spiced quince and a lovely blood orange bitterness to the finish. Thrillingly unique.”
RRP: $106 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Elle Aime 2022
Entirely from the Arbois lieu dit En Arces, the wine is 90% Pinot Noir and 10% Chardonnay.
The grapes are harvested together and macerated for three weeks prior to pressing. 75% were whole bunches and 25% were destemmed. Aging was in stainless steel. It was bottled in April 2023. Certified organic.
RRP: $112 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Zerlina 2019
The grapes for this wine are from Alice’s vines in the “En Curon” vineyard where the soils are comprised of grey marl and limestone. The Pinot Noir and Trousseau were destemmed then macerated for 2 months and the juice was then transferred to tank for 10 months prior to bottling in May 2020 a full nine months after the harvest.
RRP: $86 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin P’tit Poussot 2024
From the lieu-dit en Poussot, this Chardonnay is from Alice’s estate. 15% was destemmed and macerated for 20 days. The remaining 85% was direct pressed.
Despite the macerated part, it drinks like a white wine so we have classified it that way.
It’s remarkably refreshing for a Chardonnay, a good wine for resetting palates during a long meal.
It was bottled in May 2025. Certified organic.
RRP: $112 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Macèré 2019
This wine is certified for both organic viticulture from Ecocert and for both biodynamic viticulture and winemaking techniques from Demeter. The grapes were handpicked into small 10 kilogram containers from Alice’s vines in the “en Arces” vineyard near the village of Arbois.
The Chardonnay grapes then underwent whole bunch maceration in fibreglass tanks for two months before being pressed and the juice returned to the tanks. The result was an orange wine of considerable finesse where the tannins are present from the skins of the grapes, however are quite fine grained and not at all aggressive. The wine was bottled in May 2020. Alcohol is 13%.
The label is a reworking of artwork from previous Chardonnay wines from Alice as far back as 2011!
RRP: $100 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Brutal 2017/2018
This wine is another in the now widespread series of Brutal wines which are supposed to be a unique wine made for a specific vintage. Alice has, instead, used grapes from two different vintages for this wine, as she felt that the blended wines were greater than the separate versions. And she was right! This wine is made from her own Pinot Noir from the 2017 vintage and Muscat that she purchased from the 2018 vintage. The result is an electrifying light red which displays all the characteristics of the Pinot Noir with the added layer of complexity on the nose from the Muscat grapes.
RRP: $72 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Hip Hip J… Macerated Chardonnay “en jarre” 2020
From the Jura, this macerated wine is made from Chardonnay. We already have a cuvee with a similar name but this very limited cuvée made with grapes from the Arbois leu dit La Mailloche, where Alice also has vines, has had a slightly different treatment.
The grapes were destemmed and then macerated in glass for eight months before pressing and bottling in September 2021. How to tell them apart if you have both? The labels are identical, with the gnome wearing yellow trousers, but the lot numbers are different.
The lot number for this wine is ‘Lch macéré 2020 8 mois en jarre La Mailloche’. The lot number for the wine we released a few months ago is ‘Lch macéré 2020’
RRP: $103 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Hip Hip J… Macerated Savagnin 2020
The Savagnin grapes for this wine were purchased by Alice from another Jura producer whose vines are currently undergoing conversion to organic with Agriculture Biologique.
The previous vintage that we had which used the Savagnin was combined with Chardonnay, however this year there was enough Savagnin to create a cuvée just from Savagnin.
The grapes were left as whole bunches and allowed to macerate for 2 months. They were then pressed and the juice transferred to a tank where it underwent natural fermentation, followed by 6 months of maturation prior to bottling in June 2021.
The result is a truly delicious wine with a long finish and a nuttiness showing through from the Savagnin. We love this wine!
Please note: In 2022 we released another l’Octavin Hip Hip J… Savagnin from the 2020 vintage. It was a directly-pressed white wine and is now sold out.
RRP: $97 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Hip Hip J… Poulsard 2023
This négoce wine is made with Arbois Poulsard.
The vineyard is organic in conversion.
A part was vinified as whole bunches and a part was destemmed (50/50). Both were macerated for 10 days prior to pressing and blending.
It was aged in tank and bottled in June 2023.
RRP: $83 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Cariboom 2022
Cariboom is made with grapes from Claude Ughetto (Saint-Pierre-de-Vassols, Provence). Whole bunches of Grenache were macerated in a bath of directly-pressed Carignan for 20 days.
After pressing the wine was aged in tanks. It was bottled in May 2023.
Certified organic.
RRP: $77 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin La Cigogne Green Gewurztraminer/Pinot Gris 2021
This is a stunning, fresh, lively wine made from Gewurztraminer (50%) and Pinot Gris (50%) provided by Domaine Marc Humbrecht in Alsace who has been biodynamic for many years. Alice brought the gapes back to her winery in the Jura and then macerated the whole bunches for 5 weeks then the juice was left in tank until May 2022 when it was bottled.
This is an interesting and quite compelling wine as there are some tannins present as well as a little of that slight bitterness which makes a wine attractive. It shows tropical fruits on the nose and is a perfect wine for an aperitif or to accompany quite a wide range of foods.
RRP: $73 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Mayga Gamay 2020
The Gamay grapes for this wine were purchased by Alice from Pierre Boyat who lives in the village of Lynes in Beaujolais.
The vineyard is certified organic by Agriculture Biologique.
The grapes underwent whole bunch maceration for 20 days. The wine was bottled in May 2021.
RRP: $73 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Roi des Cepages 2021
This wine was made from Riesling grapes (trans: the king of grape varieties) purchased from Jerome Meyer in Alsace and picked by Alice from a plot that is in conversion to organic viticulture.
Alice described the treatment to us as directly pressed grapes but it drinks as a macerated wine so the press must have been very slow. It was bottled in April 2023.
RRP: $73 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Charlot 2023
A blend of 40% Merlot, 45% Syrah, and 15% Carignan.
The Merlot is from Jean-Benoit Plagnol, who is in Les Salelles in the Ardèche. The Syrah and Carignan are from Claude Ughetto in Saint Pierre de Vassols in Provence.
The Merlot was macerated for 10 days and the Syrah for 8 days (both whole bunches). The Carignan was directly-pressed. Each variety was treated separately initially but then assembled after everything was pressed. It was aged in tank and bottled in November 2023.
Certified organic.
RRP: $71
l’Octavin Tour de France NV (23/24)
As the name implies, this wine is sourced with grapes from several parts of France, including Alice’s estate.
37% is Mourvèdre and 13% is Cinsault from Claude Ughetto in Provence. The remaining 50% is a melange from the 2023 harvest, both négoce and estate.
To complicate things, part of the Mourvèdre is from 2024 and part from 2023 and all of the Cinsault is from 2023, so the majority of the wine is from the 2023 vintage (we think!).
It is quite textural and opens up beautiful over the life of the bottle. Certified organic.
RRP: $71 (SOLD OUT)
l’Octavin Gros Lot 2024
This is the first time we have had a wine from Alice made entirely with grapes from the Loire Valley. And they are not just any grapes.
These are from Sébastien Dervieux, better known as Babass, whose vines are in Beaulieu-sur-Layon. Harvested on the last day of September, whole bunches were macerated in two parts. 2/3 had 10 days of maceration and 1/3 had four weeks, both in stainless steel tanks.
Both parts were assembled in April 2025, after fermentation was completed. It was bottled in May 2025.
The wine is very fresh and energetic with crisp notes of red fruit. The viticulture is organic but if you want to know why the certification is not on the label ask us.
The answer isn’t appropriate for print.
RRP: $SOLD OUT
l’Octavin Synain 2022
The colour of peach, this wine is 50% Chenin Blanc and 50% Syrah.
The Chenin Blanc is from Domaine du Verger in Faye d’Anjou. The Syrah is from Vincent Lafage in Canet en Roussillon.
Both parts were directly pressed and aged in tank. They were assembled not long before bottling in October 2023. Certified organic.
RRP: $SOLD OUT
