Cellier Saint Benoit - Jura, France
Jura Winemaker of the Year!
Hachette’s Top Winemaker 2021
Benjamin Benoit
CELLIER-SAINT-BENOIT
If you’ve not had wines from France’s Jura region - just to the east of prime-time Burgundy, here is a great opportunity to begin. If, like us, you are a fan - this is a rare do not miss offer: an exclusive for its breath of offerings in the USA.
Winemaker Benjamin Benoit’s production is small, so small he puts the total number of bottles produced for each wine on the front of the label(s). Here are those numbers for the wines we have:
584
(48 cases)
423
(35 cases)
2402
(200 cases)
1517
(126 cases)
382
(32 cases)
2863
(239 cases)
976
(81 cases)
1633
(136 cases)
389
(32+ cases)
And, he’s a good winemaker, very good! In 2021 he has been selected in the 1100+ page - 2021 Le Guide Hachette des Vins - as the Winemaker of the Year in the Jura. WOW!
BENJAMIN BENOIT
At age 25, Pupillin’s Benjamin Benoit already has a career’s worth of compelling aspects on his resume. While his is not a household name here, he has not “come out of nowhere.” As exporter Becky Wasserman & Co explained to us, none other than Fixin’s Amélie Berthaut (Domaine Berthaut-Gerbet) said of her then apprentice, Benjamin Benoit — “watch this one.”
Indeed after working in New Zealand as well as in neighboring primetime Burgundy with Amélie, he then spent time with both Nicolas Faure and Charles Lachaux. If ever there is a young Burgundian all-star team, that is it.
Sadly, for the moment (then 23 year-old) Benjamin’s Dad passed away and he had to head back to Pupillin — to viticulturally absolutely tear it all up in the Jura - to now being named Winemaker of the Year by a major force in French wine journalism.
Pupillin is lower left of darker orange section at the top of the map. On the top left you will see the “Côte D’Or” boundary with the famed wines of Burgundy.
Benjamin has been immersed - literally - in the Arbois-Pupillin appellation vines of his native Pupillin all his life. His paternal grandfather began the farm decades earlier and the family sold their fruit to others for years.
More recently, taking the vineyards on from his father’s work, Benjamin has begun to leave his imprint on the vines, the winery and the wines. His holdings are spread over ten single vineyards in the AOC of Arbois-Pupillin with vines aged from 15 years of age to 83 years!
The soils are a wild but defining mix of marl: red, grey, blue and white, scattered on hillsides ranging in height from 250 meters to over 400 meters (1300-1400 feet). Most of his vineyards allow working only by hand. Between the rows of vines, you’ll find a variety of plants and grasses helping build a small place for as Benjamin calls it “microbiological life.” The material he has to work with is amazing…
From Benoit to us just this week “we take particular care of every vine to our single vineyards, who are each different as each person is to another.”
GRAPES, TERROIR AND WINEMAKING
The Pupillin zone is small but tricky, with much of it being most amenable to the local white grapes of Chardonnay and Savagnin. As our friends at Becky Wasserman point out, Pupillin is criss-crossed by a series of faults with older marl going back to the Triassic age. Ploussard grapes love that and it shows in the wines. Winemakers know too, and some 75% of the appellation area is planted to Ploussard. (Poulsard? Ploussard, you ask? See * below.)
Our new arrivals include the indigenous, celebrated grapes - Ploussard, Trousseau and Pinot noir, as well as a Chardonnay. While Benoit is in the process of converting farming to sustainable farming (much of it already was) and organic method, he is also mindful of both tradition and innovation saying "Today, I wish to continue the work accomplished by the older generations, by bringing the knowledge that I have acquired during my various experiences."
As for the results of this work, rather than simply saying the “proof is in the Pupillin” - the set of wines we are offering is a tour de force of his efforts: after all, we know of no producer in the region bottling six separate vineyards of the Ploussard grape. (several are in this offer)
For the 2019 reds below: no sulfur during fermentation, 100% whole-cluster, destemming by hand à la the MO at Lafarge (using a wicker crible), stainless steel tank and fiber tank, no fining and no filtration.
Benjamin tells us the yeasts are all wild and he has no “mechanization in the vineyards or in the cellar.” At the same time he stresses he is not wedded to following rules based solely on some specific winemaking philosophy, but rather will take the best actions he can based on what each situation and each vine and each wine suggest its needs may be.
Additionally he tells us his reds are made in tank or in large oak barrels (depending on the grapes and the nature of the vintage), while the whites are aged in older, large oak casks. All bottling is by hand!
Pupillin, the world capitol of the Ploussard grape (E&R photo from 2011)
* the ploussard grape by any other name...
In the 14th century, it was called "polozard" and in three separate parts of the Jura is it called "pleusse" and "plusse" and "plousse". The grape's etymology is still up for grabs. Taking its name from the apple (plosse), the grape is called and spelled "ploussard" in pupillin, and is called and spelled "poulsard" everywhere else in Jura. What appears less of a controversy is the grape is at its strongest and most vivid in Pupillin, which could account for the tradition of higher proportions of 100% bottlings in Pupillin vs. other appellations in the Jura.
Cellier Saint Benoit Arbois Pupillin Chardonnay "La Marcette" 2021
From two neighboring single vineyard parcels planted in 1982 on red marl slope. If you have not had chardonnay from Jura, let this be your excuse. Sustainable vineyards converting over to organics.
Cellier Saint Benoit Arbois Pupillin Chardonnay "Les Charots" 2021
This chardonnay sees no new oak. Benjamin discussed the difficulty finding second hand oak barrels in France. He was able to pick up a used big barrel from Louis Jadot this year. Chardonnay is grown on a very steep slope with less vines per hectare on this particular vineyard. Mineral power!
Cellier Saint Benoit Arbois Pupillin Chardonnay 'La Marcette' 2020
Benoit describes his single vineyard chardonnay from the La Marcette parcel this way: “Well balanced wine, with fat, rich in aromas of honey, quince and white flowers.” His highest production wine - all of 238 cases! - La Marcette is brilliantly focused, plush and fragrant in showing its pedigree from vines planted in 1966. The La Marcette vineyard is at the northern end of Pupillin on a west-facing slope of chardonnay-loving red marl.
Cellier Saint Benoit Arbois Pupillin Pinot Noir 'Courbes Raies' 2021
It is rare to find old vines Pinot noir in Jura even though it has been there for ages. In this case, much of this vineyard was planted by his grandfather over sixty years ago. Benoit’s elegant (not light) is persistent, silky and aromatic, with a long refreshing finish.
Cellier Saint Benoit Arbois Pupillin Ploussard "Chambines" 2021
On a site where faults have been exposed in unusually high proportions of older marl, you can find lots of ploussard here. All desteamed in the vineyard with a crible, a traditional wooden table with holes in which the clusters are gently rubbed in a circular motion, removing grapes and leaving the steams behind. Old school! Aged in tank for 6 months.
Cellier Saint Benoit Arbois Pupillin Ploussard "Cote de Feule" 2021
1987 planting on the most recognized terrior in Pupillin. Located on an old stone quarry, the soil is shallow, iris colored triassic marl, and well, rocky! Desteamed with a crible, this wine is heady, distinctive, bright fruited. This is the only “single vineyard” that existed in the past and the only vineyard his Dad ever bottled as such.
Cellier Saint Benoit Arbois Pupillin Ploussard "la Ronde" 2021
Ploussard was planted in 1973 on a steep limestone based slope. Chalky and stoney, this ploussard is stoic and firm. Pump-overs only, aged in stainless steel.
Cellier Saint Benoit Arbois Pupillin Savagnin Nature "Le Grapiot" 2021
This parcel is farmed entirely by hand. Crazy soils on the fault ignites complexity and tropical fruit. Worth aging to see who it becomes in some time, says B.
Cellier Saint Benoit Arbois Pupillin Trousseau "Gryphees" 2021
Gryphees takes its name from a type of soil called gryphaea (devil’s toenails). This soil is found on a plateau terrior- high concentration of marine mollusks, oyster shells, and plenty of fossilized sea bed material. A blend of 15 year old and 45 year old vineyards with high canopy a technique Benjamin has introduced in the vineyard. 100% whole cluster, no fining or filtering.
Cellier Saint Benoit Arbois Vin Jaune 2013
Benjamin thanks his father for starting this- two souls complete the traditional wine of Jura. 100% savagnin + ambient yeast creates a wine like no other on earth, ages indefinitely.
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