From the renowned Arbois lieu-dit “Les Corvées” (2022-2023), this is Alice’s lighter expression of Trousseau, made in a style more suited to early drinking — although a bottle from 2011 recently showed it can age with surprising vitality. Whole bunches were macerated for two months prior to pressing. The wine was bottled in April 2024 and aged in tank. Certified organic.

Alice Bouvot originally trained as a classical musician — a passion reflected in the name of her estate and several of her cuvées — before turning to wine. After formal training and travel to deepen her knowledge, she returned to the Jura, where she was born in Besançon, and in 2005 established Domaine de l’Octavin with her then partner, Charles Dagand. Following their separation, Alice continued running the estate on her own, gradually expanding it from around 2 hectares to approximately 6.5 hectares today, while continuing to plant more vineyards. Her wines have become some of the most distinctive and expressive coming out of the Jura, made with a strong focus on organic farming and minimal intervention.

As the Jura has become an increasingly challenging region in which to make wine due to the impact of climate change — particularly earlier flowering leading to severe losses from late frosts — Alice has adapted by working with trusted friends in other regions to source grapes. This has allowed her to build an extraordinary and diverse range of wines from across France. Her energy and commitment remain remarkable: for her négoce projects — which can span from Roussillon and Provence in the south, to Alsace in the north and the Loire in the west — she and her team travel to harvest the grapes themselves and bring them back to Arbois for vinification.

Alice’s own vines are closely spread around the outskirts of Arbois. She has plots in some of Arbois’s most famous vineyards including Les Corvées, En Curon, and La Mailloche. Because she doesn’t work in the appellation any more you will never specifically find these names on her wines but often she identifies the vineyard as part of the lot number. (Alice’s lot numbers are an incredibly useful source of information because they also often contain an abbreviation for the variety and/or vintage as well.)  She has always worked organically and also practises biodynamic viticulture. Similarly the growers she buys from are all certified organic or work organically.

She adds absolutely nothing to her wines and uses no filtration or fining at the time of bottling. She vinifies almost every cuvée in fibreglass tanks, her preferred vessel because it gives nothing of itself to the wine (plus there are benefits in “sort of” being able to see through the tank).  There are no compromises – they are all “pur jus”. It is the way she began making wines with Charles and she has never veered from those principles, always making wines that she loves to drink rather than chasing wines which will appeal to a broad market. 

These wines are available in very limited quantities, and we recommend securing your allocation early to avoid disappointment. We are currently awaiting their arrival from the importer, and please allow approximately two weeks for delivery.