Domaine Montbourgeau
”I’m a country girl, a terroir women! What I like is freedom.”
Domaine Montbourgeau is a small family property located in AOC L’Etoile, in the Jura. When it was founded in the 1920s by the grandfather (Victor Gros) of the current owner (Nicole Deriaux), the Domaine Montbourgeau stretched over 8 hectares.
Today the property has 11 hectares of vineyards but also conserves green spaces (orchards, forests). Each year the estate produces around 50,000 bottles.
Let’s go together to meet Nicole Deriaux…
Why did you choose to become a winemaker? Nicole Deriaux: I studied oenology in Dijon thirty years ago, and then got a viticultural license. Subsequently I strengthened my skills in different houses (internships)vthen at Moët & Chandon. Then I wanted to go abroad but I was not allowed because at the time the big companies did not take the risk of sending young women out of France. So I only found work in a laboratory in France. I also worked for a vineyard of the Frontenais where my hands were free, I could work there as if it were my home. Then my parents, who at that time had planted a lot of vines were a little overworked and asked me to come back. Which I did with my greatest pleasure. It coincided with a moment in life when I was getting married and my husband was ready to come back with me to the Jura. We both wanted to be able to live with a lot of freedom in our work, with autonomy and raising our children in the countryside. We did not want to have a huge domain, rather human sized between 8 and 10 hectares. We wanted to both go to the vineyard, make the wine and sell it. Vignerons has always been a passion for us, which has left us little free time.
Where does the name of the property come from?
N.D.: The name ‘Montbourgeau’ does not come from the surrounding hills but is the name of a hamlet in our village. Indeed the name of the AOC L’Etoile is explained by the presence of 5 hills (Monterreaux, Mont-Augy, Mont-Morain, Montmuzard, Mont-Genezet) thus forming the points of a star whose village is the center. The latter is divided into three hamlets: the Chevalière, The Grappe and Montbourgeau.
Where does this famous red star come from, which is the characteristic logo of your property?
N.D.: The creation of our labels showing a red star dates from 1956 ‘1959’. They were created by a painter friend of my grandfather Victor Gros and my father Jean Gros.
If you had to define the property, its atmosphere and what the wine represents for you?
N.D.: This property is a place to live and work. We are very attached to this area because there is a spirit of freedom. Here we have space, a huge space. The property is lost in a valley of vineyards. I have a lot of childhood memories on the property. I even raised my kids here.
Our domain is also a place of life where we receive our family and our customers. Some of them have become friends ... A wine estate is a place where wine is made but it’s not just that ... There is the wine side (the tasting, the food and wine pairings) but also all the wine. human side (sharing, conviviality, laughter ...). For example during the grape harvest we organize crust breaks. Montbourgeau is this alchemy: meetings, exchanges, moments lived together ... In short, simple moments. I think it’s this simplicity that appeals to people and makes them feel good here.
How do you explain that so small a name is so recognized? How does it become the most famous AOC of the Jura?
N.D.: There is the AOC village, in 1937 our ancestors winemakers worked well, have presented their wines well for us to have the appellation. There is in the wines of this AOC a real particular expression of chardonnays, thanks to our particular soil and our microclimate. I remain deeply convinced and I have always defended it!
After that it’s true that we are lucky, there is also the name itself that can make you dream, ”l’Etoile” is indeed a very nice word in itself.
Speaking about the terroir, could you tell us a bit about yours?
N.D.: In ”The terroir of L’Etoile there is this configuration: the vines are on the hills and the real village is located in the hollow. There is this particular configuration in the form of a star, there are 5 hills surrounding the village which give it a slightly different climate. This is not a micro climate because it happens to us the same things as others but not at the same time. That is to say that we will have hail when others do not have hail, that we will freeze too but not necessarily at the same time. Personally I will not go so far as to say that one is lucky or that one has a microclimate, I have become prudent with age.
In our soil we often have a limestone layer with stony debris on which we find small fossils in the shape of a star. Yet it is the 5 hills that gave the name of L’Etoile are not small fossils. They are also found in Sion near Nancy right on the ground. We have this crust that allows the soil to absorb water very easily. As you walk you will see that the earth (surface) is a very clear clay but also very dark gray. It is very typical of the AOC L’Etoile this layer of brown earth, with the clay / marl below.
What is the signature of the domain? What makes it possible to recognize them in blind tasting?
N.D.: Above all, I hope, each time, to be able to recognize them, but in tasting you must know how to remain humble. Already to recognize the AOC L’Etoile, it is first of all the typicality: it is wines that remain atypical with an oxidative edge but which are often elegant with a lot of finesse, elegance and minerality.
Regarding my wines I think I have exacerbated this minerality. It seems to me and my customers confirm that we always find this salty side, salted with a certain minerality. I also tried to bring forth the finesse and elegance of our wines of this beautiful appellation.