Les Bottes Rouges, Arbois
Jean-Baptiste Menigoz, the former teacher and cross country skier, changed his life completely after having had his first natural wine in 2004. This was a Jean Foillard Côte du Puy and after drinking it, he was sold. He gave up his sporty life completely and when he wasn’t busy educating kids, he worked together with winegrowers such as Raphael Monnier and Stephane Tissot to learn, and of course, to drink wine.
In 2009, he went and studied oenology. So in 2012 he felt well prepared to start out on his own and made his first wines from 2 hectares. His vinery is located in the tiny village of Abergement le Petit, just 5 kilometres outside Arbois. In 2015, Florien Kleine Snuverink arrived to work with him and today they have 7 hectares in total together, spread out around their little village and also on the slopes above Arbois. They own half of it and rent the rest, but all of the vineyards are farmed by Jean-Baptise and Florien, which is very important to them.
When it comes to Florien, you can easily say that she’s quite an unexpected sight here. She is a former restaurant owner from Amsterdam, who went to Beaujolais to make wine together with Yvon Metras a few years ago. While doing this, she got stuck with the work in the vineyards and with the wines, but searched for a nicer view and found Jura and Jean-Baptiste.
Today, they are partners in crime and develop the work in the vineyards and vinery together. They make a lot of different experiments in the cellar, to find out the superior expression of each plot every year. We are so happy to be able to work with these guys and follow their progress.
The whites are almost only ‘ouillé’ (topped-up) ones. Those are lively, intense in fruit, with fresh acidity and fine minerality. Each cuvée is really personal and different-so you need to drink them all to feel the essence of the Domaine. The exception from the topped up wines is a ’Vin Jaune’-which is still under progress, and tastes nice so far. Their reds are intense, red-fruity, aromatic and flirty.
2020 ‘Ouf!’ Petillant Naturel
Soil: Limestone and marl
Grape: 50% Savagnin 50& Chardonnay
Appellation: Vdf
Age of Vines: Planted 2003
Vinification: Direct press before fermentation in steel tanks. Bottled with some sugar left in November to create perfect bubbles. Disgorged in October 2022.
Soil: Grey marl, ‘Lias’
Grape: Chardonnay
Appellation: AOC Côtes du Jura
Age of Vines: planted 2000
Vinification: Direct press before fermentation in ‘foudres’ (big barrels, 2700 liter). After fermentation was carried out, it was aged in various old oak barrels before bottling.
2020 Pinot Noir ‘La Pépée’
Soil: Limestone on top of grey marl ‘Lias’
Grape: Pinot Noir
Appellation: AOC Arbois
Age of Vines: Plated 1978 and 1988
Vinification: Destemmed before 14 days of maceration, without extraction. Careful pressing before continuous fermentation and then ageing in stainless steel tanks. Bottling took place in June 2021.
2021 Ploussard ‘Tôt ou tard’
Soil: Limestone and marl
Grape: Ploussard (also known as Poulsard, local spelling)
Appellation: AOC Arbois
Age of Vines: Planted 1991
Vinification: Destemmed before 20 days of maceration, without extraction. Then careful pressing before continuous fermentation and then ageing in old 600 litre oak barrels. Bottled in September 2022.
NV ‘Kilt’
Soil: Clay
Grape: Chardonnay
Appellation: VDL
Age of Vines: Planted 1956
Vinification: Direct press of the grapes. 2/3 grape juice (vintage 2018) and 1/3 Marc (vintage 2014) is blended and aged in old barrels for 4 years before bottling.