Domaine de la Renardière

Jean-Michel Petit was born in Pupillin in 1966 and grew up in the village. He founded Domaine de la Renardière in 1990 with his wife Laurence Petit. The estate's name (Renardière) translates roughly as fox-place or den of the foxes, a nod to Jean-Michel's childhood spent watching foxes in the woods around Pupillin. The founding was modest: a small acquisition of family-related parcels in Pupillin and the surrounding Arbois communes, slowly built up through the 1990s and 2000s to the current 7-hectare footprint. Jean-Michel works as a discreet vigneron, with little of the international visibility that has accrued to the larger Pupillin natural-wine names. Recognition has come through the natural-wine importer circuit and through trade visits, rather than through aggressive critical promotion. The estate's reputation has grown through the 2010s as the Pupillin natural-wine sphere has gained broader international attention, and Renardière is increasingly cited alongside the Overnoy-Houillon estate as a Pupillin reference.

• Jean-Michel Petit, born 1966 in Pupillin, founded Domaine de la Renardière in 1990 with his wife Laurence Petit
• Estate name (Renardière, fox-place) is a nod to Jean-Michel's childhood spent watching foxes in the woods around the village
• Estate built up parcel by parcel through the 1990s and 2000s to the current 7-hectare footprint
• Recognition has come through the natural-wine importer circuit rather than aggressive critical promotion

The estate's 7 hectares (some sources cite 7.5) sit on the clay-limestone hillsides above the Cuisance valley around Pupillin. The terroir is dominated by the Triassic red marnes that have made the village famous for Ploussard production: ancient iron-rich clay and marine-deposit soils that give the variety its delicate, perfumed, savory profile. The plantings are split roughly half-and-half between reds and whites. The reds include Pinot Noir, Poulsard (locally called Ploussard in Pupillin), and Trousseau, with the Ploussard parcel including some old vines planted in 1983. The whites are mostly Chardonnay, with a small Savagnin holding for the voile-aged bottlings. The estate's vineyard work is biodynamic-influenced, with cover crops, hand-picking, and selective sorting at the press, but Demeter certification has not been pursued. Organic certification was earned in 2012 after a conversion that began in 2010.

• 7 hectares (some sources 7.5) on the clay-limestone hillsides above the Cuisance valley around Pupillin
• Terroir dominated by Triassic red marnes, iron-rich clay and marine-deposit soils that have made Pupillin famous for Ploussard
• Plantings split roughly half-and-half: reds (Pinot Noir, Poulsard, Trousseau) and whites (mostly Chardonnay, small Savagnin parcel); old-vine Poulsard from 1983 plantings
• Organic conversion 2010, certification earned 2012; biodynamic-influenced but not Demeter-certified

The cellar work follows the natural-wine sensibility of Pupillin. Fermentations are with indigenous yeasts, no enzymes are used, no fining or filtration is performed on most cuvées, and sulfur dioxide is added at the lowest dose deemed necessary or not at all on the more natural-leaning bottles (Ploussard especially). The whites split between ouillé (topped-up) Chardonnay in the Burgundian style and traditional sous voile bottlings for the Savagnin. The Vin Jaune ages seven years under voile, beyond the 6 years 3 months AOC minimum, in 228-litre Burgundy barrels, and is bottled in the standard 62 cl clavelin. The reds are vinified with partial whole-cluster fermentation depending on the cuvée, with the Ploussard typically destemmed for a more delicate fruit profile. The cellar work places Renardière squarely in the Pupillin natural-wine sphere, working at a comparable scale and stylistic register to the Overnoy-Houillon estate.

• Indigenous-yeast fermentations, no enzymes, no fining or filtration on most cuvées, low or no added SO2 on the natural-leaning bottles
• Whites split between ouillé (topped-up) Chardonnay and traditional sous voile Savagnin
• Vin Jaune ages 7 years under voile (above the 6 years 3 months AOC minimum), bottled in the 62 cl clavelin
• Cellar work places Renardière in the Pupillin natural-wine sphere alongside Overnoy-Houillon, at a comparable scale and stylistic register

The cuvée range is anchored by the Ploussard, which the estate makes in two forms: a standard Arbois-Pupillin Ploussard from younger vines and the Vignes de 1983 from the estate's old-vine plot planted in 1983. The Vignes de 1983 is the more concentrated and structurally serious bottling, often released without added sulfur. The Jurassique bottling is a Chardonnay from the parcels on the most calcareous parts of the Triassic marnes, named for the Jurassic geological context that shapes the cooler-climate Jura terroir. The Vin Jaune is the long-aged signature, seven years under voile and bottled in the 62 cl clavelin. The estate also produces a small Trousseau cuvée and a Savagnin sous voile in the years when the harvest supports it. The bottles circulate through the natural-wine importer network internationally (Sacred Thirst Selections in the U.S., Dynamic Vines in the U.K., among others), and supply is small relative to the international demand.

• Ploussard in two forms: standard Arbois-Pupillin and Vignes de 1983 (old-vine, more concentrated, often released without added sulfur)
• Jurassique is a Chardonnay from parcels on the most calcareous parts of the Triassic marnes
• Vin Jaune ages 7 years under voile, bottled in the 62 cl clavelin
• Distribution through the natural-wine importer network (Sacred Thirst Selections U.S., Dynamic Vines U.K., among others); supply small relative to demand

Renardière sits squarely in the Pupillin natural-wine sphere, working at a scale and stylistic register comparable to the Overnoy-Houillon estate but with broader varietal range and an explicitly biodynamic-influenced (rather than purely natural-wine) viticultural approach. Where Overnoy and Houillon define the Pupillin natural-wine reference, Renardière represents the next-generation extension: a working estate that has internalized Overnoy's cellar discipline and applied it across a slightly broader cuvée range. The estate's old-vine Ploussard from the 1983 plot is one of the most-cited single bottles from the village, regularly compared to the Overnoy-Houillon Ploussard for stylistic position. The estate is small enough that supply is limited internationally, but the bottles circulate widely enough through the natural-wine importer network to anchor Renardière as one of the rising-star references for Pupillin and the broader Jura natural-wine conversation.

• Sits in the Pupillin natural-wine sphere alongside Overnoy-Houillon, working at a comparable scale and stylistic register
• Represents the next-generation extension of the Pupillin natural-wine model: broader varietal range, biodynamic-influenced viticulture
• Old-vine Ploussard from the 1983 plot is one of the most-cited single bottles from Pupillin, regularly compared to Overnoy-Houillon
• Distribution through the natural-wine importer network anchors the estate as one of the Pupillin rising-star references