Domaine Berthet-Bondet

Château Chalon, Jura

Domaine Berthet-Bondet was established in 1984 when Jean and Chantal Berthet-Bondet bought an old domaine that had not been producing for over 50 years, bringing with it 3 hectares of old vines. Previous to this Jean had worked for a year with Domaine Macle, the leading producer in Château-Chalon, before deciding to make the town their home. The Berthet-Bondets also purchased an old priory house perched right at the back of the village, with spectacular views down over Château-Chalon and its vineyards. Here, Jean and Chantal built a small cuverie and extended the original underground cellars to include a well-ventilated cellar ideal for the production of sous-voile wines such as Château-Chalon.

Today the vineyard holdings have been extended to 11 hectares with 5 of Savagnin, 4.5 of Chardonnay and 1.5 shared between the reds (Poulsard, Trousseau and Pinot Noir). They consist of both old vines and newer plantings between 1985 to 1990. They have 4 hectares of Savagnin in the Château-Chalon AOC situated on south and south-east facing slopes around the two villages that make up the appellation - Château-Chalon (lieu-dit Sous-Roche) and Menétru (lieux-dits En Beaumont and Gaillardon). Despite the appellation taking its name from Château-Chalon, it is the vineyards of neighbouring Menétru, especially En Beaumont, that are said to be the finest. Jean had been slowly moving the vineyards towards organic management since 1993 as he could afford to make the required changes and finally started official conversion in 2010 and is now certified. It is no mean feat to establish a domaine like this from scratch, particularly when you consider the long-aging time requirements for so many of the wines (over 6 years for Château-Chalon!).

In a relatively short time Jean has established himself as an important figure in the appellation. He has served as mayor of the village and is the current president of the Syndicate of Producers of Château-Chalon. He is a quiet, kind and thoughtful man with a gentle demeanour. He has the great patience required to establish a domaine built around the long-aged styles of ‘traditional’ Côtes du Jura whites and Château-Chalon. His character is present in all the wines as they balance depth and complexity with elegance and freshness, regardless of style. They are as meticulous as the man himself. Today his daughter Hélène has taken the reins of running the domaine after working closely with her father for many years. She has been busy building on the fine reputation and refining the range of ‘topped up’ wines, introducing more old barrels to add complexity.

The demand for the wines of Berthet-Bondet has grown enormously in the 8 years since we started working them. We are now on strict allocations for most of the wines.