Stephane Tissot – at the domaine named after his parents, Andre et Mireille Tissot – has become the world’s most widely-known ambassador for the wines of Jura. This small, mountainous region looks across the Saone Valley to Burgundy’s Cote d’Or, but has its own very distinctive vinous heritage and traditions.

Macvin is a Jura speciality made by blending unfermented grape must with Jura Marc Brandy. The must is first reduced by boiling; the Marc then prevents fermentation from taking place, and the resulting ‘wine’ is aged in barrel, for two years in the case of Stephane’s Macvin. He makes a white based on Savagnin and Chardonnay must, and a red based on Pinot Noir must. Stephane’s Cremant is also a distinctively Jura creation. It uses a liqueur de tirage from fermenting Vin de Paille (local sweet ‘straw’ wine made from raisined grapes). As well as various single site Chardonnays, he also has some fine Savagnin, a very old local white variety which has parented many other more familiar grape varieties. The Sous Voile is made under a layer of flor-like yeast that forms in the air pocket of a barrel that is not kept topped up as wine slowly evaporates. With the ouillé, by contrast, the barrel is kept topped up so that yeast cannot form. The latter style is also known as floraux, or floral, since it shows less of the sherry-like nutty style. Vin Jaune is another unique Jura style. It is made from late-harvest Savagnin grapes matured sous voile; the yeast film protects the wine partly (but not completely) from oxidation. After six years in barrel these wines are gold in colour and nutty in taste.

Stephane always knew he wanted to be a vigneron - at the age of six he was choosing to help his father in the vines when he got home from school. He has been making the wines full time since 1990, and since 1993 with his partner Benedicte. Andre and Mireille had started the domaine in 1962 with a small plot, but it has now grown to 50 hectares. Andre was not initially convinced by Stephane`s desire to go organic, but the younger couple`s success did the trick and unusually the older generation ceded control and retired early. The estate is now biodynamic and comprises some of the best plots in the region. (NT 19/09/23)

NB - if (as I did) you get confused about the bottles and the domaine name, here is the story. The front label of the wines says `Benedicte et Stephane Tissot`, and the wines are often listed as such. The back label of the bottles carries the formal name `Domaine Andre et Mireille Tissot`.