I have visited many wine growers over the years, and these days it takes a lot to truly surprise and thrill me. This is the unadorned truth of being a wine writer.
But a few weeks back I was surprised and thrilled to my core by a young vigneron who is creating poetry and music with some lesser-known grapes from the Jura slopes.
The name is Benjamin Benoit, and the estate is Le Cellier Saint-Benoit. And I was thrilled – and stunned.
Fantastic Pupillin
Pupillin is located on the southwestern slope of the Jura mountains, and it has a tremendous landscape, with complex geology that accommodates different grape varieties.
The views are outstanding, and an hour-long trip through the vineyards left me flabbergasted by the beauty of this sunny day.
The terroirs of the Pupillin vineyards are characterized by sunny, south-facing, limestone slopes with great variation among the soil types. The altitude is around 350 metres/1150 feet above sea level, and high trellising is used to some extent.
Frost is an issue in the Jura as it is in other winegrowing regions, and about a third of the vines had their potential crop more or less destroyed by the hard frost this year on April 22-23.
Arbois-Pupillin produces white, red, and rosé wines, made from white grapes chardonnay and savagnin and red grapes pinot noir, trousseau, and poulsard – also known as ploussard, the dominant grape in the area. Trousseau is, by the way, known as bastardo in Madeira and mainland Portugal. Even melon – the grape – is produced by Benjamin Benoit.
My discovery starts
My Jura story started at Le Soufflot, a restaurant in Meursault, at a lunch with two mainland Chinese wine lovers and a local wine agent.
They chose the wines, and while I adored the Chassagne-Montrachet from Coffinet-Duvernay, the next one really grabbed my attention.
Benjamin Benoit’s red from Le Cellier Saint-Benoit shook the Winehog’s pinot foundation.
Light, transparent, delicate; what is this? My questions were many, so I decided to contact and visit Benjamin Benoit in Pupillin. Luckily he agreed, and on April 5 I showed up.
Benjamin Benoit
Benjamin Benoit was born in 1995, so he’s not yet 30. He went to the technical high school in Beaune to study viticulture and winemaking.
He has worked for Arnoux-Lachaux and Amelie Berthaut, both estates well known to the Winehog, and both estates that take good care of the young people who work there. People like to criticise vignerons like Charles Lachaux, but in fact he is very generous with his knowledge towards vignerons and wine lovers who care to listen.
While Benoit was working for Amelie Berthaut, his father sadly passed away, leaving him the family estate in Pupillin. A large part of the grapes that year were sold to the local cooperative, the Fruitière Vinicole d’Arbois. Only two hectares from 6.5 ha were bottled under the family label – the rest was sold to the cooperative.
Benoit has since taken most of the vineyards back for his own production, and he is now farming five of the 6.25 hectares – a much larger estate.
For his bottles, Benoit chose Louise Lachaux as the label designer; always a great decision.
Le Cellier Saint-Benoit from one angle
Regarding the Jura, many wine lovers are discovering – and drinking – the whites. I understand this, but for me, the reds from Le Cellier Saint-Benoit are at least as interesting if you like vins d’emotion – as I do ❤️❤️❤️!
Thus this article focussing on the reds.
The reds of Pupillin
Pinot noir is of course the king of reds. But if one treasures light, floral wines, Pupillin can offer some real treats from trousseau and ploussard, if they are well made.
Ploussard is the most common red grape in the Jura, and a true local. It is, in the hands of Benjamin Benoit, a floral treat: light in colour, and when made with a light hand, transparent and delicate. The minerality is beautifully present and gives the wine liveliness and complexity. The acidity is lively, with forward freshness. Vins de soif spring to mind, as the depth and complexity are somewhat limited. These are wines painting with broad, yet slightly fragile strokes. Some will criticise ploussard for being thin, but I love these wines for their lively lightness.
Trousseau is the other native Jura red grape. It’s on the more powerful side, with quite an alcoholic potential if not harvested in time and vinified carefully. I have not tasted many wines from this grape, but made with a light hand it can be controlled. Still, as the Portuguese nickname bastardo indicates, it’s bolder, more intense, and spicier than ploussard. I need to taste more widely to have a firmer understanding of this variety.
Pinot noir from Pupillin is darker, deeper, and more complex than ploussard. It makes a larger-scaled wine, and one a bit more serious. While I enjoyed both, the pinot makes one want to reflect on the flavours and impressions, whereas the expressive ploussard simply treats your palate with joyful impressions – straightforward and direct pleasure.
There is no reason to argue over whether the ploussard or the pinot is better. All being equal, the answer is a given. But at the right time, with the right friends or food, ploussard is a blessing – to my palate at least.
Ploussard Cuvees
Benjamin Benoit and Le Cellier Saint-Benoit make several red wines, and being on foreign soil, I cannot yet say anything intelligent about the intricacies of these different cuvees.
Cuvee de Trousseau
- Trousseau Côte de Feule
Cuvee de Ploussard
- Ploussard Le Grapiot
- Ploussard Côte de Feule
- Ploussard Les Chamblines
- Ploussard Les Rouges
- Ploussard La Ronde
Cuvee de Pinot Noir
- Courbes Raies
To say I have full control over my understanding of the different ploussard cuvees would be the overstatement of the year. I am only starting to learn.
This is new turf for the Winehog, and as I love Benjamin Benoit’s wines, I will definitely taste and explore more.
That said, with the pinot-based Courbes Raies I am on steadier ground, having tasted the 2021 in Burgundy. It was truly Burgundian, with depth and complexity. Not monumental (it was after all 2021), it still had lightness and filigreed nuance. On a very good day, it could match a fine village from Gevrey-Chambertin. But this is beside the point. It had lovely nuances, a slight hint of roses, and was definitely a hedonistic glass. ❤️❤️
More shall come from my visit to Benjamin Benoit at Le Cellier Saint-Benoit!
- A true vin d’émotion – a Burgundy of passion
- A truly hedonistic wine – lively and enjoyable
- A vivacious wine for pure indulgance
- A Vin Vif - fresh, energetic and with a light appearance
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