47 editor-picked estates growing Chardonnay in Jura.
Where to taste Chardonnay in Jura: the estates that grow it, how the region expresses the grape, and how to book a visit.
Chateau-Chalon house founded in 1850, working 11 hectares: 8 of Chardonnay in Cotes du Jura and 3 of Savagnin for vin jaune, all raised under voile in 16th-century cellars.
Tasting: Tasting and retail sales Monday to Saturday, 9am to 12pm and 2.30pm to 6pm, by appointment; closed Sunday.
Tip: No website and no walk-ins. Telephone ahead, and expect three cuvees rather than a long list.
Estate created in 1985 on 15 hectares, 5 in Chateau-Chalon and 10 in Cotes du Jura, with a vaulted 16th-century cellar holding more than 500 barrels for long vin jaune ageing.
Tasting: Caveau open Saturdays 10am to 12pm and 2pm to 6pm, weekdays by appointment; cellar visit and full-range tasting, French, German and English.
Tip: The cellar keeps a back-catalogue of older vintages, so ask what is open beyond the current release.
Jean-Claude and Annie Credoz opened their Chateau-Chalon caveau in 2002 with 2 hectares and bought back the family vines, reaching 9 hectares inside a decade. Valentin now farms alongside them.
Tasting: Caveau in the village of Chateau-Chalon, open for tasting and direct sales; contact the domaine for current hours.
Tip: The family traces its vines to 1859 and moved down from Menetru-le-Vignoble in 2004; ask about the old parcels.
Cooperative founded in 1957 at the foot of the Chateau-Chalon cliff, collecting 75 hectares across Cotes du Jura and Chateau-Chalon and bottling the full Jura range.
Tasting: Free tasting seven days a week during caveau hours; group visit and tasting by appointment Monday to Saturday, 10 euros for five wines with Comte.
Tip: The easiest place in the Haute-Seille to compare Chateau-Chalon with a Cotes du Jura sous voile side by side.
Mantry grower working 8 hectares across four communes and three geographic appellations, Cotes du Jura, L'Etoile and Chateau-Chalon, with 16th-century cellars under the house.
Tasting: Groups up to 50 by reservation; 5 euros per person for five wines with amuse-bouches, glass included. Bus parking beside the cellar.
Tip: One of the few small domaines holding vines in three separate geographic AOCs, which makes the tasting a tour of the region.
Listed chateau above 22 hectares of old vines in Cotes du Jura, all surrounding the house. The range covers red, white, rose, corail, vin jaune, vin de paille, Macvin and old marc.
Tasting: Cellar door Monday to Saturday, 10am to 12pm and 2pm to 6pm; Sundays and holidays by appointment, open 2pm to 7pm in July and August. Groups by reservation.
Tip: From May to October the ticket also buys the romantic park, the fortress ruins and the 17th-century cellar with its old still.
Arlay family estate now in its sixteenth generation, farming 10 hectares entirely in biodynamics and holding one of the deepest old-vintage cellars in the Jura.
Tasting: Cellar visits, tastings and vineyard walks; weekday visits without appointment, weekends and holidays by reservation.
Tip: The family has kept bottles back since the 19th century, and old vintages occasionally come out at tastings.
Independent growers at Le Vernois since 1742, now run by the ninth generation. 25 hectares across six appellations and about 150,000 bottles a year, of which 30 percent is Cremant.
Tasting: Bookable visits include a guided seven-wine tasting, a cellar tour with tasting, a blind tasting in black glasses, and wine with chocolate or verrines.
Tip: Terra Vitis certified since 2014, and the most structured visit programme in the Haute-Seille if you want more than a counter pour.
Growers' cellar at Le Vernois working since 1953, with parcels spread across several Jura appellations and a range that runs from Cotes du Jura to L'Etoile blanc and Cremant.
Tasting: Free tasting without appointment during caveau hours; groups by reservation. A virtual cellar tour runs on the website.
Tip: A useful first stop on the Haute-Seille road: no appointment needed and the pours are free.
Le Vernois family estate a few kilometres from Chateau-Chalon, pouring the full Jura set: pure Chardonnay, Chardonnay-Savagnin blends and Savagnin left unouilled for six years and three months.
Tasting: Caveau open Monday to Friday 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm, Saturday 9am to 12pm; closed Sundays and public holidays.
Tip: Holds Haute Valeur Environnementale certification, and opens year round without an appointment on weekdays.
L'Etoile estate bought by Victor Gros in 1920 and now in its fourth generation on 11 hectares of Chardonnay, Savagnin and a little Trousseau and Poulsard.
Tasting: Caveau welcomes visitors without appointment during opening hours, with tastings talked through by the family.
Tip: The younger generation is trialling single-parcel cuvees alongside the standard range; ask what is in barrel.
Auguste Vandelle settled at L'Etoile in 1883 and the sixth generation, Valentin, took over in 2020. The Mont Morin slope of white Lias marl above the village is the estate's Savagnin heart.
Tasting: Caveau open Monday to Saturday 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 7pm, Sunday by appointment; cellar visits on reservation.
Tip: Certified Haute Valeur Environnementale, and one of the few L'Etoile caveaux open six days a week without booking.
Vines planted by Carthusian monks in the 13th century and in Pignier hands since 1794, now 12 hectares at Montaigu farmed biodynamically and certified by Demeter France.
Tasting: Caveau open Monday to Friday 2pm to 6.30pm and Saturday 10am to 12pm and 2pm to 6.30pm; closed Sundays and holidays. Cellar visit included.
Tip: The tasting happens in the vaulted 13th-century Cellier des Chartreux where the wines still age.
Rotalier family of six growers farming 13.5 hectares split across 45 parcels, four communes and thirteen lieux-dits, and bottling around thirty cuvees a year.
Tasting: By appointment only, Monday to Saturday, arranged by email; Saturday is the day the family groups tastings, which run about two hours.
Tip: Chardonnay is two thirds of the plantings, so this is the place to taste the Sud Revermont's parcel-by-parcel whites.
Twelve hectares in the Sud Revermont split between Chardonnay, Savagnin, Trousseau, Poulsard and Pinot Noir, fermented on indigenous yeasts with most cuvees bottled without added sulphur.
Tasting: Visit and tasting by reservation only.
Tip: Book well ahead. Production is small and the no-sulphur cuvees sell through the allocation quickly.
Passenans family domaine recorded since 1692 and run by Nathalie and Emmanuel Grand, with 10 hectares on clay-limestone and irised marl farmed organically.
Tasting: Caveau by appointment daily except Sunday, and closed weekends from September to April; visit takes in the old and modern cellars and a small winemaking museum.
Tip: The street is literally called rue du Savagnin, and the estate holds Chateau-Chalon parcels as well as Cotes du Jura.
Certified organic domaine in Poligny, passed father to son since 1659 over ten generations, working mainly in vin jaune and vin de paille alongside the rest of the Jura range.
Tasting: Tasting and sales at the Badoz Vins et Fromages shop, 19 Place des Deportes in Poligny, Monday to Thursday 8.30am to 7pm, Friday and Saturday 8.30am to 7pm, Sunday morning 9am to 12pm.
Tip: The Poligny shop pairs the wines with Comte from the family cheese business, which is the local way to taste vin jaune.
Arbois house with parcels spread across Arbois, Cotes du Jura and L'Etoile, harvesting entirely by hand and bottling Cremant, whites, reds, vin jaune, vin de paille and Macvin.
Tasting: Tasting and sales at the Arbois shop in the town centre; the working cellars sit on the route de Dole edge of town.
Tip: The range is split into floral whites and typed sous voile whites, which makes it an easy place to learn the difference.
Arbois estate started in 1953 on 33 hectares, of which 16 are Savagnin, farmed organically and biodynamically and a member of the Biodyvin syndicate.
Tasting: Open weekdays 9am to 5.30pm; weekends and holidays by appointment. Guided cellar visit with commented tasting, groups up to 50, and a dining room seating 80.
Tip: A glass-ended barrel in the vaulted cellar lets you see the yeast voile forming on the vin jaune.
Founded in 1991 by Evelyne and Pascal Clairet to make Arbois without chemistry, keeping local practice while trialling ouille Savagnin and passerillage on the vine.
Tasting: Tasting at the domaine on Petite Place in Arbois; the family also runs the Bistrot de la Tournelle by the Cuisance river in season.
Tip: Their riverside bistrot is the easiest place in Arbois to drink the wines with food rather than at a counter.
Benedicte and Stephane Tissot farm 35 hectares from Montigny-les-Arsures in organics and biodynamics, bottling named terroirs such as Les Bruyeres, La Mailloche, En Barberon and Curon.
Tasting: Tasting at the sales caveau on Place de la Liberte in Arbois; the working estate sits at Quartier Bernard in Montigny-les-Arsures.
Tip: Do not confuse this house with Jacques Tissot or Jean-Louis Tissot in the same commune; all three are separate businesses.
Arbois house created by Jacques Tissot in 1962 from a plot inherited from his father, now 30 hectares run with his children Nathalie and Philippe under lutte raisonnee.
Tasting: Tasting and sales at two Arbois caveaux, 39 rue de Courcelles near the Pasteur house and 32 Grande Rue under the arcades; group visits to the Les Bruyeres cellar by appointment.
Tip: Separate business from Andre et Mireille Tissot and from Jean-Louis Tissot; check the street address before you book.
Montigny-les-Arsures estate bottling the Arbois range across Poulsard, Trousseau, Chardonnay and Savagnin, plus vin jaune, vin de paille, white and rose Cremant and Macvin.
Tasting: Caveau de Vauxelles at Montigny-les-Arsures, open for tasting and direct sales; contact the estate for current hours.
Tip: The third distinct Tissot business in the Arbois appellation, based at Vauxelles rather than Quartier Bernard or rue de Courcelles.
Family estate on the Pupillin road out of Arbois, 8 hectares in Arbois and 2 in Cotes du Jura, hand-harvested and with every white raised in oak barrel.
Tasting: Open Monday to Saturday 9am to 6.30pm, Sunday by appointment. Free tasting, cellar visits and groups up to 60 by arrangement.
Tip: Certified Terra Vitis, and one of the few Arbois cellars open through the lunch hour six days a week.
Demeter-certified Arbois estate on 9 hectares spread over lieux-dits including Les Corvees, Grand Curoulet, Clos Maire and La Bergere, with every wine made from its own fruit.
Tasting: Tasting at the Arbois cellar; contact the domaine to arrange a visit.
Tip: Michel-Henri and Francoise now work with their son Quentin, and the cellar keeps handling to a minimum.
Cooperative set up on 4 January 1906 by 26 Arbois growers after phylloxera, it pressed for the AOC system and bottles under the Chateau Bethanie name from a cellar built in 1969.
Tasting: Tasting and sales at the Chateau Bethanie site; the separate Place de la Liberte shop is closed for building works.
Tip: Its Savagnin cellar, created in 1993, holds 3,000 Burgundy pieces of 228 litres, which is why the vin jaune range runs deep.
Family estate created in 1973 on 10.3 hectares at Les Arsures and Montigny-les-Arsures, on soils that suit Trousseau and Ploussard, vinified variety by variety and parcel by parcel.
Tasting: Cellar visit and tasting Monday to Saturday, 9.30am to 12pm and 2pm to 6pm, preferably by appointment; groups of about 25 by arrangement. Closed Sundays and holidays.
Tip: Certified Haute Valeur Environnementale since 2013 and converting to organics from the 2019 harvest onward.
Twenty hectares split between 15 in AOC Arbois at Montigny-les-Arsures and Arbois and 5 in Cotes du Jura on the En Chamoz slope above Salins-les-Bains.
Tasting: Cellier de Genne at the old abbey in Montigny-les-Arsures; French, German and English spoken.
Tip: The cellar occupies a former abbey building, which is worth the detour on its own.
Arbois estate created in 2012 by Guillaume d'Angerville of Domaine Marquis d'Angerville in Volnay, farming the five Jura grapes as a proprietaire recoltant.
Tasting: Estate at Quartier Saint-Laurent, Montigny-les-Arsures; contact the domaine to arrange a visit.
Tip: A Burgundian reading of Arbois: expect topped-up whites alongside the traditional sous voile bottlings.
Cooperative founded in 1909 that now groups 35 growers around Pupillin, the village that calls itself the world capital of Ploussard, the local name for Poulsard.
Tasting: Caveau in the village open all year, weekdays and weekends; the Plouss'Bar runs through the summer season.
Tip: Certified Terra Vitis. Open at weekends, which many Pupillin growers are not.
Pupillin family domaine run by Anne-Laure and Damien Petit, covering the full Arbois Pupillin range from Ploussard to vin jaune, vin de paille, Macvin and Cremant.
Tasting: Caveau open Monday to Friday 8am to 12pm and 2pm to 6pm, weekends 9am to 12pm and 2.30pm to 6pm; cellar visits by appointment, with a museum of old winemaking tools.
Tip: Distinct from Jean-Michel Petit at Domaine de la Renardiere, two streets away in the same village.
Seven-hectare Pupillin estate started in 1990 by Jean-Michel Petit, built on parcel cuvees and all-barrel ageing, with the village red marls driving the Ploussard.
Tasting: Caveau open daily except Sunday, telephone ahead; groups up to 30, 5 euros for a six-wine tasting.
Tip: Organic since 2010 and certified in 2012, biodynamic in practice but not certified. Not connected to Domaine Desire Petit.
Village interpretation centre at Chateau-Chalon with a vaulted cellar and a panoramic terrace where staff run paid initiations to vin jaune, vin de paille and Macvin.
Tip: Groups of 12 or more must book ahead; the summer programme adds sessions led by Chateau-Chalon growers.
Jerome Arnoux pours his Arbois and Cotes du Jura range in a Gothic cellar listed as a Monument Historique, a few steps off the Arbois main street.
Tip: Open Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00 to 12:30 and 14:30 to 19:00, then seven days a week through July and August.
Father-and-son cellar door at Montigny-les-Arsures working six hectares under lutte raisonnee, pouring Arbois in white, red and vin jaune.
Tip: Call ahead: the Aviet family runs the caveau around vineyard work rather than to fixed hours.
Wine-tourism building opened in 2014 above the Sud Revermont vines, where a self-service fountain pours Cotes du Jura by the glass under a roof terrace.
Tip: Named after the dry-stone vineyard huts of the Jura, locally caborde, caborne or cadole.
Patrick and Adrien work seven hectares at Aiglepierre north of Arbois and receive visitors in the caveau for commented tastings of Cremant, Macvin and vin jaune.
Tip: Monday to Saturday by appointment, English and Spanish spoken, and the estate takes campervans under France Passion.
Raphael and Adeline Fumey started with 56 ares in the mid 1980s and now farm 17 hectares at Montigny-les-Arsures, with son Marin back from harvests abroad.
Tip: The range covers vin jaune, vin de paille, Macvin and Cremant alongside the still Arbois bottlings.
Four generations of the Benoit family on the Pupillin slopes, now run by Benjamin Benoit, with hand harvesting and a limited Arbois-Pupillin production.
Tip: Pupillin sits 3 km from Arbois and 9 km from Poligny, so the cellar fits neatly into a half day.
Family estate on the Pupillin road out of Arbois, 3.5 hectares certified by Ecocert, planted with all five Jura grapes and open for cellar-door tasting.
Tip: The cellar sits on the lane that climbs from Arbois to Pupillin, an easy walk from the town centre.
Six hectares of Poligny vines taken over on 1 July 2021 by growers continuing the parcels previously farmed by the Reverchon family.
Tip: One of the few cellar doors inside Poligny itself rather than out among the vines.
The cheapest way into Jura Chardonnay. The growers' cellar at Le Vernois lists the 2023 at 10.80 euros, which is below what most Burgundy village wine costs before it leaves the cellar.
Tip: Taste it beside the Tradition and the Savagnin in the same room before you choose. The cellar is a kilometre from Domaine Baud and Hubert Clavelin, so the three make one stop.
The Savagnin and Chardonnay blend the Jura calls Tradition, listed at 13.90 euros for the 2023. The standard house white of the region, and the bottle to try before paying vin jaune money.
Tip: This is the style that divides people. Buy one bottle, drink it with Comte rather than on its own, and decide from there whether the sous voile whites are for you.
The Arbois cooperative's Cremant under its Bethanie label, at 14 euros a bottle. Cremant du Jura is made by the traditional method with a minimum nine months on lees and covered 428 hectares in 2023.
Tip: The rose brut is 12 euros on the same list. The cooperative's physical shop has been shut for building work, so order online or buy the label at a caveau in town.
Straight Chardonnay from the Revermont slopes above Poligny at 15.50 euros for the 2023, from a family that has made wine in the town since 1659.
Tip: Poligny is the Comte town as much as a wine town, so buy this with a wedge of cheese from one of the cellars on the same street and you have lunch.
The house white of a family domaine on Pupillin's main street, at 13.50 euros. The cellar sells Monday to Saturday and is the easiest walk-in tasting in the village.
Tip: The cellar closes on Sundays and public holidays all year apart from the Easter weekend, so do not plan a Sunday visit to Pupillin around it.
Single-lieu-dit Chardonnay from Pupillin at 16.90 euros. Named for the Grapiot parcel, it is the bottle to take if you want to see what the village's red marls do to a white grape.
Tip: The domaine's Cuvee S orange Savagnin sits on the same shelf at 17 euros. Between them they cover both directions Pupillin has taken since the 1990s.