Domaine de la Touraize | Vin du Jura

Domaine de la Touraize is now run by André-Jean Morin and his wife Héléana, but the vineyard has been in the family for over eight generations! Located in Arbois, the family used to supply grapes to the local cooperative, but in 2011 André-Jean sold off some of the land so that he could build his own vat room and cellar to begin producing wines himself. He never studied winemaking like many other local vintners - instead he learned his craft through family tradition alone. The name and logo reflects a fossil, because Andre-Jean has been discovering them and collecting them in the vineyards since he was a little boy, and he has a pretty impressive collection at the winery on show! Popular Touraize wines include Les Voisines chardonnay, Les Terres Bleues and their delicious Cremant du Jura.

Today, the estate is comprised of 13 hectares in Arbois. Because of the large amount of land, the soils are quite diverse - blue marl, calcareous-clay, silty-clay marls, and rich gravel on marl allow Andre-Jean to produce distinctive, plot-specific cuvées. André-Jean farms chemical-free with a focus on the biodiversity and health of the vineyards - to protect the soil, water, air, and people - as well as to produce grapes that will soak up the distinctiveness of the terroir. The soils are tended to manually and mechanically when needed. All the main Jura grape varieties are grown: Chardonnay, Savagnin, Ploussard, Trousseau, and Pinot Noir. Vines on the Touraize plots reach up to 80 years old. Domaine de la Touraize is very well respected in the Arbois winemaking community and André-Jean is even one of the few vintners given the honour of carrying the biou, a ceremonial bunch of grapes from respected producers, through the town to the church at the annual La Fête du Biou to honour the upcoming harvest.

With red grapes, only 20kg containers are used when transporting from the vineyards, to keep them from tamping down too much so that whole bunch fermentation can occur. Steel tanks are used for the reds, they are racked once or twice during aging, then bottled unfiltered. White grapes are directly pressed as slowly as possible, to obtain a clear juice, then fermented and aged in wooden barrels, and are sometimes filtered. All wines are fermented using spontaneous yeasts and very small amounts of sulphur are added at bottling (under 30mg) to prevent oxidation. Wines from Domaine de la Touraize showcase strong character and perfectly reflect the Jura terroir - for example we love their rich, concentrated and soulful Poulsard ‘La Cabane’ from gray marl soils on their Touraize and Curoulet plots. Their Cremant du Jura, from both Chardonnay and Savagnin, also really impressed us! For those interested, check out their Cremant Levures Indigènes 2020, which uses their own fermenting juice of the next year to kickstart the secondary fermentation, thus as natural as could possibly be.

Where are Domaine de la Touraize based?

The winery of Domaine de la Touraize is based just on the edge of the town of Arbois in Jura. This is close to their vines which are all located around Arbois.

What is the meaning behind the name Domaine de la Touraize?

La Touraize is the name of the oldest vineyard, which has been owned by the family since 1704. The emblem of fossils are shown because the owners Andre-Jean Morin and Héléana are constantly finding fossils in the vineyard. A visit to their winery is where they hose many large specimens on display

What are the most popular Domaine de la Touraize wines?

Based on price and availability, La Cabane and Les Voisines are the most popular bottles of Touraize wines we offer, but their Cremant is a sure fire hit as well!

What to expect with the wines of Domaine de la Touraize

These Jura wines have a certain elegance and refinement to them all, whilst all natural and low-intervention, there are no crazy or wild characteristics. These are well-made, clean Jura expressions which reflect their terroir brilliantly.

What is the difference between Arbois and Poligny in wine?

Whilst Arbois is more famous for wine production, Poligny is also home to great winemakers like Valentin Morel and Lulu Wines, amongst others. However, whilst many domaines are based in the cellar-village, it is common to have multiple plots in different locations, so Philippe Chatillon for exampe has plots in Arbois and close by too, as well as in the north region of Chateau-Chalon.