Domaine de Montbourgeau

History of Domaine de Montbourgeau

The history of Montbourgeau spans nearly a century, with each generation expressing its passion for the vine and for wine. In 1920, Victor Gros purchased Montbourgeau, planted the vineyard and began selling wine in bottles. In 1956, his son Jean took over, created the winery and devoted himself to expanding the vineyard and developing the estate.

In 1986, Nicole Deriaux joined the estate, modernised the cellars, continued the plantings that would allow her to produce a Vin Jaune and developed export sales. In 2019, César, representing the fourth generation, took the reins alongside his brother Baptiste, bringing new plot projects and a new underground winery designed to operate without any air conditioning. Through each successive handover, the estate has established itself as an indispensable reference for the Étoile appellation.

Terroirs and Vineyards of Domaine de Montbourgeau

Domaine de Montbourgeau is anchored at the heart of L'Étoile, one of the most little-known appellations in the Jura, dedicated exclusively to white wines. Its name evokes both the five hills arranged in a star shape around the village and the pentacrinites — those small five-branched fossils that pepper the soils. On this clay-limestone terroir blended with grey and iridescent marls, the vineyard extends over approximately eleven hectares in an almost single block, on the hillside of Montangis.

Chardonnay, the estate's grape variety of choice, accounts for nearly 70% of plantings, alongside Savagnin (approximately two hectares) and a few plots of Trousseau and Poulsard. Vineyard work is respectful and sincere: entirely manual harvesting, ploughed and grassed-over soils, and a committed transition to organic farming, in order to preserve the vitality of the soils and to reveal the purest expression of the L'Étoile terroir.

Winemaking at Domaine de Montbourgeau

In the cellar, winemaking scrupulously respects the traditional methods of the Jura. Fermentations proceed naturally and ageing takes place in large foudres, demi-muids and old barrels, almost none of which are new. Production is divided between two major families of wines: the ouillé wines, whose barrels are regularly topped up to the bung to reveal the terroir without any oxidative character, and the voile wines, where the barrel is intentionally left unfilled to allow a protective veil of yeast to form.

This voile technique, a deep hallmark of the estate, reaches its pinnacle with the Vin Jaune, aged for several years without topping up. Depending on the cuvée, fermentations are conducted with indigenous yeasts and sulphur doses are kept very low, with the voile whites never being racked. From vine to bottle, each wine is crafted with patience and precision, to preserve the balance and aromatic complexity characteristic of the Jura tradition.

The cuvées of Domaine de Montbourgeau

L'Étoile blanc is the estate's classic cuvée, a Chardonnay-dominant wine into which a few rows of Savagnin are occasionally blended to add complexity. Vinified in tank and then aged in old barrels and demi-muids for approximately two years before assemblage, it is a straight, taut and saline wine, with notes of white-fleshed fruit and citrus.

La Cuvée Spéciale is Montbourgeau's flagship wine, the quintessence of Chardonnay in oxidative style: aged for a long time under a veil of yeast, it reflects its clay-limestone terroir studded with pentacrinites with every vintage. Powerful and flavourful, it unfolds aromas of walnut, green apple, curry and old beeswax, underpinned by remarkable freshness and salinity.

Montangis is one of the new single-vineyard cuvées born under César's impetus, an ouillé Chardonnay sourced from the eponymous hillside — precise, mineral and true to its place. L'Assemblage, also ouillé, comes from a plot of approximately 0.8 hectares in Banode, planted en foule around 1970 with equal parts Savagnin and Chardonnay, whose juices are blended and vinified in foudre.

La Chaux is a single-vineyard Chardonnay sourced from a small limestone knoll whose vines, planted in 1930, comprise one third chardonnay, one third muscat chardonnay and one third melon à queue rouge, a local variety. Fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged for one year in 400-litre barrels, it is a rich, concentrated, full-bodied and saline wine that pairs beautifully with fish.

Le Vin Jaune is the estate's icon wine, a pure Savagnin aged under a veil of yeast for more than six years and presented in its traditional 62 cl clavelin bottle. Intense and complex, it offers the characteristic spectrum of the grape variety: walnut, almond, curry, green apple and spices, with a finish of great length.

The Vin de Paille is a sweet wine made from dried (passerillé) grapes (chardonnay, savagnin and poulsard) that are slowly dried before pressing. Rich and complex, it stands out for a style that is reputed to be drier than average for straw wines, combining concentration and freshness.

The Crémant du Jura, a true flagship of the estate, is crafted using the traditional method, most often with a dominant proportion of Chardonnay, in a fine, fresh and thirst-quenching style. The Macvin du Jura, available in both white and rosé, is a liqueur wine born from the blending of Jura marc and grape must, in which a beautiful acidity perfectly balances the sweetness.

Les Secrets de Montbourgeau perpetuate an ancestral recipe for cooked liqueur wine, predating the codification of Macvin — a rare and precious delicacy unique to the estate. Montbourgeau also produces a few delicate red wines from Poulsard and Trousseau, with fine tannins and a silky palate, which subtly complete the range of the estate's wines.