Zev Rovine with Alice Bouvot, Owner of L'Octavin |
Country of Origin: France
Location: Arbois, Jura
People: Alice Bouvot & Charles Dagand, Owners & Winemakers
Supplier: http://www.zrswines.com
This exciting new domaine is the collaboration of Alice Bouvot and Charles Dagand. They work on just under 5 hectares of vineyards in Arbois. They began this domaine in 2005 with just 50 hectoliters of wine farmed on about 2 hectares of vineyards and have bought small bits of property each year. They have also slowly changed their process throughout the years to a more and more natural production. They are now Demeter certified biodynamic and since 2009 make all of their wines completely without sulfur, fining, or filtration. They make all of their wines from single plots and single varieties.
Background Information (from LeDom du Vin Blog): "After graduating as a viticole engineer in Bordeaux and studying in Dijon to become oenologist, Alice Bouvot decided to go abroad to observe the types of wine that is produced there: California first, with renowned winemaker Aaron Pott in 2000, New Zealand and again in California at Pine Ridge in 2001; Vina Errazuriz in Chile in 2002 and then six months in California. Despite the accumulated wealth of all these encounters and experiences during these three years, Alice returned to France with the certainty that her life will be held in the Jura, this tiny vineyard that does not exceed one percent of French vineyards. After a position of vineyard manager in the “Côte du Jura,” she decided to settle in Arbois with her cellar master, Charles Dagand. Charles Dagand learned and did his classes in Burgundy. After studying as a technician in oenology and viticulture, it worked with Mr. Galmard, as the technical director of the local cooperative “Fruitière Vinicole d'Arbois – Chateau Bethanie”. Alice enticed him in her adventure in 2004. A year later, they decide to create their own domain: OPUS VINUM, which has become the Domaine de L’Octavin."
"Alice Bouvot and Charles Dagand’s seven-acre, 7-year-old Domaine
l’Octavin in Arbois is distinguished, among other things, by the special
(and successful) attention to detail and vintage adaptation they lavish
on highly-distinctive red wines – a majority of their production – as
well as by their wines’ low alcohol levels and very reasonable prices.
(Self-proclaimed natural methods and low sulfur elevage and bottlings
alone scarcely serve to distinguish one among the top Jura
establishments.) This couple, incidentally, associates most of their
bottlings – not all of which I had time to sample – with characters from
Mozart opera, whose names then appear on the labels, along with those
of the relevant vineyards (often less prominently displayed).
L’Octavin’s petillant naturelle sparkler – a pure, subtly sweet
Chardonnay of 10% alcohol labeled for the Les Peteux vineyard – is worth
noting for having been, on the occasion of my visit, delightful,
mingling juicy fresh apple and lemon with nut oils and ginger; but since
this non-vintage bottling was not labeled with any lot designation, I
follow standard Wine Advocate policy by not offering what would become a
“forever green” tasting note and attendant rating." - Wine Advocate, 2012
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