Domaine de la Tournelle

Evelyne and Pascal Clairet founded Domaine de la Tournelle in 1991, choosing the town of Arbois itself as their base rather than the producer-dense villages of Montigny-lès-Arsures or Pupillin. The estate began modestly and grew parcel by parcel across the Arbois AOC through the 1990s and 2000s. The working philosophy was natural-wine from day one: organic farming, indigenous yeasts, no chaptalization, no acidification, and on most cuvées no added sulfur. The town location gives the estate a public-facing dimension that most Jura producers lack. Le Bistrot de la Tournelle, the tasting room and wine bar that Evelyne and Pascal opened in Arbois, has become one of the region's most-visited natural-wine destinations, with a rotating wine list that includes the estate's bottles alongside other natural-wine producers. The estate's profile rose sharply through the 2000s and 2010s as the natural-wine movement crystallized internationally and Arbois became a primary geographic anchor alongside Beaujolais and the Loire.

• Founded 1991 by Evelyne and Pascal Clairet in the town of Arbois, the historical capital of the Jura
• Estate built up parcel by parcel across the Arbois AOC through the 1990s and 2000s
• Natural-wine philosophy from day one: organic farming, indigenous yeasts, no chaptalization, no added sulfur on most cuvées
• Le Bistrot de la Tournelle, the estate's tasting room and wine bar in Arbois, is one of the region's most-visited natural-wine destinations

The estate today covers 8 hectares of vineyards, all inside the Arbois AOC and spread across multiple parcels around the town. The plantings follow the Jura's classical varietal mix: Savagnin and Chardonnay for whites, Trousseau and Poulsard for reds. The white plantings dominate, reflecting the broader Arbois pattern, with Chardonnay and Savagnin together accounting for roughly two-thirds of the estate. The red parcels are smaller but distinctive, with the Trousseau plot at Les Corvées being the source of the carbonic-macerated Uva Arbosiana cuvée. The vines sit on the calcareous marls and Triassic clay-limestone soils that are the textbook Jura terroir, with parcels distributed across different exposures and ages. The estate has not pursued the parcellary single-vineyard approach that Stéphane Tissot has built at scale in Montigny-lès-Arsures; cuvées are constructed primarily by varietal and style rather than by lieu-dit.

• 8 hectares all within the Arbois AOC, spread across multiple parcels around the town of Arbois
• Plantings: Savagnin and Chardonnay for whites (roughly two-thirds of the estate), Trousseau and Poulsard for reds
• Vines on the classical Arbois soils: calcareous marls and Triassic clay-limestone
• Cuvées constructed primarily by varietal and style rather than by single-vineyard lieu-dit

The Clairets banned synthetic chemicals on the estate from arrival and converted formally to organic farming in 2000, with organic certification earned in 2010. The viticultural approach is biodynamic in practice rather than Demeter-certified: Evelyne follows Maria Thun's lunar calendar for the major vineyard operations and uses biodynamic preparations alongside the standard organic toolkit. Sulfur and copper applications are kept to the minimum required to maintain the ecosystem, and the estate emphasizes biodiversity in the rows and surrounding cover crops. The decision not to pursue Demeter certification reflects the natural-wine community's broader skepticism of certification bureaucracy rather than any reservation about biodynamic principles. The cellar work mirrors the vineyard logic: native-yeast fermentations, no enzymes, no fining, no filtration on most cuvées, and minimal sulfur. Many of the estate's bottles carry zero added SO2, with the rest using the lowest dose deemed necessary at bottling.

• Organic conversion began in 2000; organic certification earned in 2010
• Biodynamic in practice (Maria Thun lunar calendar, biodynamic preparations) but not Demeter-certified
• Cellar work: native-yeast fermentations, no enzymes, no fining, no filtration on most cuvées
• Many cuvées bottled with zero added SO2; minimum two years on fine lees before release

The Tournelle range traverses most of the Jura's stylistic palette. The whites split between ouillé (topped-up) Chardonnay and Savagnin in the Burgundian style and the traditional sous voile (under yeast veil) bottlings. Terre de Gryphées is the estate's flagship Chardonnay, named for the Gryphaea fossils that mark the calcareous marls of Arbois. The Vin Jaune undergoes the standard Jura protocol: at least six years and three months under voile in 228-litre barrels, bottled in the 62 cl clavelin. The Vin de Paille is made from the classical blend of Chardonnay, Savagnin, and Poulsard dried on straw mats and pressed at concentration. The reds include a traditional Poulsard and the Trousseau Uva Arbosiana, which is unusual in the Jura for using full carbonic maceration in the Beaujolais style: whole-cluster fruit fermented under CO2 in sealed tank, giving a softer, more aromatic Trousseau than the typical destemmed Jura red.

• Whites split between ouillé (topped-up) and traditional sous voile bottlings; Terre de Gryphées is the estate's flagship Chardonnay
• Vin Jaune follows the standard Jura protocol: at least six years and three months under voile, bottled in the 62 cl clavelin
• Vin de Paille from the classical Chardonnay, Savagnin, and Poulsard blend dried on straw mats
• Trousseau Uva Arbosiana uses full carbonic maceration in the Beaujolais style, unusual for a Jura red

Tournelle occupies a specific position in the modern Jura. Stéphane Tissot anchors the biodynamic and parcellary work in Montigny-lès-Arsures, Pierre Overnoy and Emmanuel Houillon anchor the Pupillin natural-wine sphere, and the Sud-Revermont biodynamic group around Jean-François Ganevat and Domaine Labet works the southern slopes of the Côtes du Jura. Tournelle is the natural-wine reference for the town of Arbois itself, with a public-facing cellar door and a fully realized natural-wine program across all the Jura's indigenous styles. The estate is widely available through the natural-wine importer network internationally (Jenny and François in the U.S., Dynamic Vines in the U.K., among others), and the wines circulate at price points well below the Pupillin and Sud-Revermont stars. Since Pascal's death in 2021, Evelyne has continued the estate solo without fundamental change to the cuvée list or viticultural philosophy, and the estate remains the natural-wine cornerstone of Arbois town.

• The natural-wine reference for the town of Arbois, distinct from the Tissot biodynamic-parcellary work in Montigny and the Overnoy natural-wine sphere in Pupillin
• Fully realized natural-wine program across all the Jura's indigenous styles, with Le Bistrot de la Tournelle as a public-facing cellar door
• Widely available through the natural-wine importer network (Jenny and François U.S., Dynamic Vines U.K., among others); prices well below Pupillin and Sud-Revermont stars
• Evelyne has continued the estate solo since Pascal's death in 2021, maintaining the cuvée list and viticultural philosophy without fundamental change