Jean-Baptiste Menigoz, the former teacher and cross country skier, changed his life completely after having had his first natural wine in 2004. This was a Jean Foillard Côte du Puy and after drinking it, he was sold. He gave up his sporty life completely and when he wasn’t busy educating kids, he worked together with winegrowers such as Raphael Monnier and Stephane Tissot to learn, and of course, to drink wine. In 2009, he went and studied oenology. So in 2012 he felt well prepared to start out on his own and made his first wines from 2 hectares. His vinery is located in the tiny village of Abergement le Petit, just 5 kilometres outside Arbois. In 2015, Florien Kleine Snuverink arrived to work with him and today they have 7 hectares in total together, spread out around their little village and also on the slopes above Arbois. They own half of it and rent the rest, but all of the vineyards are farmed by Jean-Baptise and Florien, which is very important to them. The first Chardonnay cuvée is Léon. The vines are planted in clay-heavy soils and the grapes are usually harvested at the end of September. Direct press into 3,000L foudre for alcoholic and malolactic fermentation before racking into smaller, 440L neutral oak barrels. Jean-Baptiste concludes that this is an incredibly age-worthy white wine.
