DOMAINE FRANÇOIS ROUSSET-MARTIN
Nevy-sur-Seille
François developed his passion for wine growing up travelling between Burgundy and Jura. Both his father, who was working for the Hospices de Beaune as a micro-biologist and his grandfather who cared for the family vineyard in Jura, played a big role in Francois pursuing his passion. François obtained a degree in oenology in 2002 and worked at various domaines in Rhône and Languedoc.
François Rousset-Martin officially took over the family vineyards to start his own estate in 2007. Before that most of the vineyards’ grapes were being sold to the local cooperative, and only a small amount was kept to produce wine for the Rousset-Martin’s personal consumption. François kept selling part of his grapes to the cooperative cellar until 2018, he then made the decision to start vinifying the entire production himself.
The family vineyards are located in the Côtes du Jura AOCs and Château-Chalon, which is the most prestigious appellation for Vin Jaune in Jura. Over the past years, François Rousset-Martin, also grew the vineyard holdings and bought more vines in the area. The domaine now counts a total of 10 hectares.
Trained in Burgundy, François goes beyond the traditions of Jura and choses to illustrate the various expressions of these famous terroirs by vinifying by climat. Also, for wines to take the Château-Chalon AOC, they must be Savagnin raised sous-voile in demi-muid but François focuses mainly on making wines in a non-oxidative style (Vins ouillés). The aim though is not to make Burgundy look-alikes. So, in some cases the wines are allowed to grow a veil of yeasts for a few months, and then they are topped up and raised in the ouillé way until bottling. A bit of Vin Jaune is also produced.
The wines of François Rousset-Martin are complex and persistent, falling somewhere along the spectrum of floral and delicate, exotic and savory.
In the Vineyard
The vineyards are farmed organically and certified Ecocert. When the harvest comes all grapes are picked manually.
In the Cellar
François Rousset-Martin, makes his wines in four different cellars with various natural temperatures, humidity, and microbial activity levels for the different steps of vinification.
After harvest, the grapes are destemmed and softly macerated in stainless still vats. A few pump-overs are preferred over punch-downs. After fermentation, the wines are then aged on fine lees for a year in 3 to 4 years old barrels and demi-muids. The wines are bottled unfined, unfiltered with no added sulfur.
Château-Chalon
Vignes aux Dames
This traditional, 100% Savagnin, Vin Jaune is aged for 8 years instead of the regular 6 years. It comes from 0.75 hectares of 65-year-old vines planted on clay-marl soil.
Côtes du Jura
Mémée Marie
The Cuvée Mémée Marie is a blend of Chardonnay and Savagnin. Totaling 0.7 hectares of vines the 2 plots are located in the village of Lavigny and are planted with 40 years old vines. The wine is named after François’s grandmother Marie.
Côtes du Jura Chardonnay
Gravières
This Chardonnay comes from 0.3 hectares of 40-50 years old vines planted on Limestone. This is a non-oxidative cuvée.
Côtes du Jura Chardonnay
Terres Blanches
Terres Blanches comes from a 0.6-hectare plot of 40-year-old Chardonnay vines planted on gray and white marl soil.
Côtes du Jura Chardonnay
La Chaux
La Chaux comes from a 0.4-hectare vineyard of Chardonnay vines that were planted in limestone and marl soil approximately 65 years ago in the village of Château Chalon. This is a non-oxidative cuvée.
Côtes du Jura Savagnin
Cuvée du Professeur
Cuvée du professeure comes from 0.25 hectares of Savagnin vines planted in the vineyard of Sous-Roche in the village of Château Chalon. This wine is named after François’s father, who was a professor at the University of Dijon. The wine is aged sous-voile.
Côtes du Jura Savagnin
Veine Bleue de Bacchus
This wine comes from the Clos Bacchus a 1.11-hectare vineyard of Savagnin planted approximately 40 years ago in the village of Menétru-Le-Vignoble. This is a non-oxidative cuvée.
Côtes du Jura Poulsard
This Côtes du Jura is made exclusively of Poulsard sourced from a small 0.5-hectare plot.Vines here were planted in 1998 on red marl soil.
Côtes du Jura
PP André
This Cuvée PP André is a blend of Pinot Noir and Poulsard. The wine is named after François Grandfather André.
Côtes du Jura Pinot Noir
Cuvée 909
This cuvée is made exclusively of Pinot Noir from vines planted in 1998 on clay and limestone soils.
Vieux Macvin
Depending on the year this Vieux Macvin is made with Savagnin or Chardonnay depending on the vintage.
