Jura: Appellations, Wines and Grapes

The Jura is a wine region of eastern France, planted on the Revermont, which INAO describes as the western edge of the Jura massif. The CIVJ puts the vineyard at about 1,850 hectares, 0.2 percent of the French vineyard area, and records a vineyard producing close to 86,000 hectolitres. The CIVJ places the vineyard on the foothills of the Jura, between two areas that carry no vines, the Bresse to the west and the heights of the Jura to the east, along a northeast to southwest line of 80 km running from Champagne-sur-Loue to Saint-Jean-d'Etreux. The CIVJ counts seven appellations in the Jura: four geographic names, Arbois, Château-Chalon, L'Étoile and Côtes du Jura, and three product names, Macvin du Jura, Crémant du Jura and Marc du Jura. Arbois was recognised as an appellation d'origine on May 15, 1936, which the CIVJ records as the first French AOC by date. South of the Jura department, the Bugey AOC covers the southeast of the Ain department, in a country INAO describes as the southern tip of the Jura massif; it was recognised as an appellation d'origine in 1958.

• About 1,850 hectares of vineyard, 0.2 percent of the French vineyard area (CIVJ)
• Close to 86,000 hectolitres produced by the vineyard (CIVJ)
• Seven appellations: Arbois, Château-Chalon, L'Étoile, Côtes du Jura, Macvin du Jura, Crémant du Jura and Marc du Jura (CIVJ)
• A vineyard strung along a northeast to southwest line of 80 km, from Champagne-sur-Loue to Saint-Jean-d'Etreux (CIVJ)

INAO describes the Jura appellations as planted on marly slopes covered with a variable thickness of limestone scree. At Château-Chalon the vineyard sits on very steep slopes facing south or west, below cliffs that store heat and shed the scree covering the blue marls typical of the site. The CIVJ traces the geology to three stages: the deposit of limestones and above all marls in the seas of the Secondary era, around 200 million years ago; then, after the seas withdrew, the uplift of the Jura with the Alpine surrection, the collapse of the Bresse and the sliding of the edge of the Jura onto the Bresse plain, between 100 million and 2 million years ago; and finally weathering, freeze and thaw, erosion and the resistance of isolated wooded buttes capped with limestone during the Quaternary. The CIVJ describes the overthrust of the Jura onto the Bresse as a fractured tongue 500 metres thick that slid about 6 km over a clay stratigraphic layer, leaving limestone escarpments at the top of the vineyard slopes and buttes such as those at Arlay and L'Étoile. It notes that neither the limestone of the Jura nor the sands and marls of the Bresse on either side suit the vine. The marl soils are compact enough that roots penetrate them with great difficulty or not at all: vine roots spread instead in the clay layer above the marls, from a few centimetres to a metre thick, so that 60 percent of roots sit within 40 cm of soil in the Jura, while the marls hold a summer water reserve in drought. Vines take 2 percent of the utilised agricultural area on average, with 23.2 percent in the dominant Arbois pole, then the cantons of Voiteur at 6 percent, Sellières at 3.42 percent, Lons-le-Saunier at 3.1 percent and Beaufort at 2.8 percent.

• Marly slopes covered with a variable thickness of limestone scree (INAO)
• The Jura slid about 6 km onto the Bresse plain, as a fractured tongue 500 metres thick (CIVJ)
• 60 percent of vine roots sit within 40 cm of soil, in the clay layer above the marls (CIVJ)
• Vines take 2 percent of the utilised agricultural area on average, and 23.2 percent in the Arbois pole (CIVJ)

The Jura AOCs are French appellations d'origine contrôlée administered under INAO rules. The CIVJ, citing INAO, describes the AOC as identifying an agricultural product, raw or processed, that draws its authenticity and its typicity from its geographical origin, with production conditions governed at every stage, from growing the vine to harvest and winemaking. The CIVJ separates four geographic appellations, Arbois, Château-Chalon, L'Étoile and Côtes du Jura, from three product appellations, Macvin du Jura, Crémant du Jura and Marc du Jura. INAO records the recognition dates: Arbois on May 15, 1936; Château-Chalon by decree on May 31, 1936; Côtes du Jura in 1937; L'Étoile in 1937; Marc du Jura in 1942; Macvin du Jura in 1991; and Crémant du Jura on October 9, 1995, after which producers gave up making sparkling wine under the other Jura appellations. Vin jaune and vin de paille are styles made inside these appellations rather than appellations of their own. The CIVJ records vin de paille as a traditional mention carried by the Côtes du Jura, Arbois and L'Étoile AOCs, and INAO records the clavelin bottle as reserved for the vin jaune of the Arbois, Côtes du Jura, L'Étoile and Château-Chalon AOPs. Château-Chalon carries an additional control: since 1958 an annual commission walks the vines shortly before harvest to judge whether the grapes meet the requirements, and the CIVJ records years in which producers gave up the appellation, in 1974, 1980, 1984 and 2001.

• Four geographic appellations and three product appellations (CIVJ)
• Arbois recognised on May 15, 1936, Château-Chalon by decree on May 31, 1936 (INAO)
• Crémant du Jura recognised on October 9, 1995 (INAO)
• The clavelin is reserved for the vin jaune of Arbois, Côtes du Jura, L'Étoile and Château-Chalon (INAO)

Arbois covers 12 communes and 766 hectares, and the CIVJ gives production of the order of 29,100 hectolitres a year, the largest of the Jura appellations by volume. All five Jura varieties may be used, and the appellation accounts for about 70 percent of Jura red wine and 30 percent of the whites. INAO places it in the canton of Arbois, in the Revermont, on marly slopes covered with limestone scree, and notes that Louis Pasteur bought a vineyard at Arbois for his fermentation experiments and that the first French wine cooperative was founded there in 1906. Arbois-Pupillin is the name used for wines from Pupillin, one of the communes of the Arbois appellation. INAO lists Arbois Pupillin blanc, rosé, rouge, vin de paille and vin jaune among the products of the AOP Arbois, under the same specification homologated by the order of September 2, 2022. Bugey sits outside the Jura department, in the southeast of the Ain, in the triangle formed by Lyon, Grenoble and Geneva, within the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. INAO describes the pays du Bugey as the southern tip of the Jura massif, curled inside a bend of the Rhône, with a scattered vineyard. It makes still white, red and rosé wine, sparkling and pétillant wine, and an ancestral-method rosé sparkling wine sold as Bugey Cerdon; the names Manicle and Montagnieu may also be added. It was recognised as an appellation d'origine in 1958. Château-Chalon makes vin jaune only, from savagnin alone, on 60 hectares. INAO places the vineyard on the rim of the first Jura plateau, below the medieval village on its limestone promontory that gave the appellation its name. Côtes du Jura is the most extensive of the Jura appellations, running the length of the vineyard from north to south. It listed about sixty communes in 1937 and now groups 105 over 551 hectares in vine, the communes with the largest areas being Arlay, Beaufort, Buvilly, Gevingey, Lavigny, Mantry, Passenans, Poligny, Rotalier, Saint-Lothain, Toulouse-le-Château, Le Vernois, Vincelles and Voiteur. Whites and Crémant du Jura dominate its output, and it is the second Jura appellation by volume of production. Crémant du Jura was recognised on October 9, 1995. Its appellation area is identical to those of Côtes du Jura, Arbois, Château-Chalon and L'Étoile. Grapes must be picked by hand, carried in perforated crates and pressed as whole bunches. Production has grown steadily since 1995 to reach about 26 percent of total Jura AOC production. The CIVJ records sparkling wine production in the Jura from the end of the eighteenth century, and INAO notes a Poligny grower named Chevalier describing in 1734 how he obtained grey wine in the manner of Champagne. L'Étoile extends over 67 hectares. The CIVJ explains the name by the five hills that surround the village, forming the arms of a star, and by the star-shaped fossils found in its vines; INAO identifies these as crinoids. The plantings are mostly chardonnay with savagnin, and poulsard in smaller proportions, notably for vin de paille. INAO records the production area as the commune of L'Étoile, a few kilometres from Lons-le-Saunier, plus parts of three neighbouring communes, and the recognition as an appellation d'origine in 1937. Macvin du Jura covers the whole of the Jura wine appellation area and accounts for 5 percent of total Jura AOC production. It is a vin de liqueur made from unfermented grape must, to which a third of marc is added; it is aged at least 10 months in oak casks and must carry between 16 and 22 degrees of alcohol to hold the AOC. The marc spirit used must itself spend at least 18 months in oak first. All five Jura varieties may supply the musts, so Macvin may be white or red, although most growers make it white. INAO records the recognition in 1991 and describes it as the only vin de liqueur made with a marc spirit. Marc du Jura is an amber eau-de-vie aged in wood, and the component of Macvin du Jura. Its marcs come from chardonnay, savagnin, pinot noir, poulsard and trousseau, from a holding growing at least three of those varieties including savagnin, and the spirit carries a minimum of 40 percent alcohol by volume when placed on the market. INAO records its recognition as an AOC in 1942 and notes the ring-packed still, the alambic with Raschig rings, used for its distillation. Vin de paille is made from selected bunches dried for at least six weeks on a bed of straw, on racks or hung, in ventilated unheated rooms; the CIVJ elsewhere gives a drying period that can run to six months. The base yield is set at 20 hectolitres per hectare. Pressing the dried berries between Christmas and the end of February gives 15 to 18 litres of must per 100 kilos of grapes, and a slow fermentation that finishes naturally leaves a naturally sweet wine of between 14.5 and 17 degrees of alcohol. Its production is small, at 600 hectolitres of the close to 86,000 hectolitres the vineyard makes. Vin jaune is made at Château-Chalon and also in the Arbois, L'Étoile and Côtes du Jura appellations. Once fermentation is finished it must stay at least six years and three months in oak casks without racking and without topping up, during which a veil of yeasts forms on the surface and keeps the wine from contact with the air. It is then bottled in the clavelin, which holds 62 cl, the amount left from a litre of wine at the end of that ageing, and which is the only bottle permitted for vin jaune.

• Arbois: 766 hectares over 12 communes, of the order of 29,100 hectolitres a year (CIVJ)
• Côtes du Jura: 551 hectares over 105 communes (CIVJ)
• L'Étoile: 67 hectares; Château-Chalon: 60 hectares (CIVJ)
• Bugey: southeast of the Ain department, recognised in 1958 (INAO)

The CIVJ lists five authorised Jura varieties: poulsard, also called ploussard, trousseau, pinot noir, chardonnay and savagnin. All five may be used for Arbois, for Macvin du Jura musts, for Crémant du Jura and for the marcs of Marc du Jura. Château-Chalon uses savagnin alone. At L'Étoile the plantings are mostly chardonnay with savagnin and, in smaller proportions, poulsard. The CIVJ ties varieties to soils: the Trias of Pupillin suits poulsard, the chailles of Montigny suit trousseau, and the Lias of Montigny and of Château-Chalon suit savagnin. It also notes that savagnin, a hardy variety, copes with the compact marls where chardonnay would suffer. For Crémant du Jura the white wines must take at least 70 percent of the blend from chardonnay, pinot noir and trousseau, and the rosés at least 50 percent from black or grey varieties. The CIVJ records a far wider historical range, citing Charles Rouget, who in 1872 and 1897 studied forty varieties planted in the vines of the Jura, and a list of thirty-one varieties in the Salins vineyard drawn up by Girod de Miserey in 1862.

• Five authorised varieties: poulsard (ploussard), trousseau, pinot noir, chardonnay, savagnin (CIVJ)
• Château-Chalon is made from savagnin alone (CIVJ)
• Crémant du Jura whites take at least 70 percent from chardonnay, pinot noir and trousseau (CIVJ)
• Charles Rouget studied forty varieties planted in the vines of the Jura in 1872 and 1897 (CIVJ)

The CIVJ puts the Jura vineyard at about 1,850 hectares, 0.2 percent of the French vineyard area, producing close to 86,000 hectolitres. Within that total the CIVJ gives Arbois of the order of 29,100 hectolitres a year over 766 hectares and 12 communes, Côtes du Jura 551 hectares over 105 communes and second by volume, L'Étoile 67 hectares and Château-Chalon 60 hectares. Crémant du Jura accounts for about 26 percent of total Jura AOC production, Macvin du Jura for 5 percent, and vin de paille for 600 hectolitres. The CIVJ describes a trade resting on three structures. There are 230 farms with a wine activity in the Jura, and about 250 small holdings that sell their whole grape crop or keep it for their own consumption; the estates vinify 48 percent of production. Four cooperatives, grouping 260 members over 400 hectares, vinify 23 percent. Merchant houses account for 29 percent of the volume, and almost all of them also vinify and age wine. For comparison, the CIVJ records that in 1923 some 16,770 owners farmed 6,272 hectares of vine in the Jura.

• About 1,850 hectares and close to 86,000 hectolitres (CIVJ)
• 230 farms with a wine activity, vinifying 48 percent of production (CIVJ)
• Four cooperatives, 260 members, 400 hectares, 23 percent of the volume (CIVJ)
• Merchant houses account for 29 percent of the volume (CIVJ)

Primary sources (Comité Interprofessionnel des Vins du Jura and INAO): https://www.jura-vins.com/index.htm, https://www.jura-vins.com/la-carte-des-appellations.htm, https://www.jura-vins.com/statistiques-de-la-filiere.htm, https://www.jura-vins.com/aoc-arbois.htm, https://www.jura-vins.com/aoc-chateau-chalon.htm, https://www.jura-vins.com/aoc-cotes-du-jura.htm, https://www.jura-vins.com/aoc-cremant-du-jura.htm, https://www.jura-vins.com/aoc-l-etoile.htm, https://www.jura-vins.com/aoc-macvin-du-jura.htm, https://www.jura-vins.com/aoc-marc-du-jura.htm, https://www.jura-vins.com/le-mysterieux-vin-jaune.htm, https://www.jura-vins.com/le-voluptueux-vin-de-paille.htm, https://www.jura-vins.com/les-blancs.htm, https://www.jura-vins.com/les-rouges.htm, https://www.jura-vins.com/une-reelle-signature-paysagere-et-une-geologie-originale.htm, https://www.jura-vins.com/nos-missions.htm, https://www.jura-vins.com/une-histoire-prestigieuse.htm, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/arbois-blanc-16922, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/arbois-pupillin-blanc-16923, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/chateau-chalon-12233, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/cotes-du-jura-blanc-16906, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/cremant-du-jura-blanc-15330, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/letoile-blanc-12546, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/macvin-du-jura-blanc-20066, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/marc-du-jura-24369, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/bugey-blanc-21074, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/arbois-vin-jaune-16931, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/cotes-du-jura-vin-de-paille-16909, https://www.jura-vins.com/une-variete-de-patrimoines-viticoles-uniques.htm, https://www.jura-vins.com/un-vignoble-exigeant-ou-il-est-imperatif-d-etre-un-bon-vigneron.htm, https://www.jura-vins.com/des-liens-uniques-avec-la-montagne-du-jura.htm. No secondary source was retained. Last verified 2026-09-16