BRUYÈRE AND HOUILLON, Arbois, Jura, France

These two young winemakers from Arbois in the Jura produce a light and delicious Ploussard and a gracious blended, “ouillé” white wine made from Chardonnay and Jura’s favorite Savagnin.

Renaud Bruyère and Adeline Houillon take care of only 4.5 hectares of low-yielding vines, so their production is rather small. Their parcels are farmed biodynamically, like more and more young winemakers in the area, such as Alice Bouvot from Octavin. In the cellar, their Ploussard goes through semi-carbonic maceration and their wines are never filtered, with nothing added whatsoever. Their red wine vineyards are located near the village of Pupillin, sitting on the hills above the main town of Arbois. Pupillin is known as the “World Capital of Ploussard” and is home of local natural wine guru Pierre Overnoy, whom Renaud worked for in the mid-2000’s. Their white, a blend of Chardonnay and local variety Savagnin, goes through a long fermentation and is “ouillé”, a Jura term meaning the wine has been topped up from time to time to ensure that there is only minimal contact with oxygen in order to preserve its freshness. Just like for the reds, the living quality of the wine is respected and no sulfur is added ever.