Patrice Béguet

Leaving the bright lights of Paris in 2009, Patrice Béguet and Caroline Hughes returned home to the little village of Mesnay in Jura to pursue his dream of making experimental, natural wine.

With just about 4ha in both Pupillin, Arbois and Mesnay, Patrice is committed to all aspects of ecology including organic and biodynamic methods. His wines are Demeter certified which is unusual for such a small producer. So committed is Patrice to this lifestyle that he meticulously sources biodynamic straw for his Vin de Paille (straw wine) and keeps an ancient breed of Alpine sheep to graze on the indigenous grasses between vines in the winter.

In the cave, Patrice is a keen experimentalist and makes use of extended macerations and a mixture of stainless steel tanks, egg-shaped barrels and old oak barrels.

Drawing inspiration from his love of jazz and the diverse scenery of Jura; his range of wines are electric, profoundly textural and complex.

He makes his Domaine wines from estate grown grapes, and also releases a négociant  series with grapes sourced from trust producers who farm biodynamically. For instant, for his Big Bunch Theory series, Patrice sources the Grenache Blanc from Mont Ventoux, the Melon de Bourgogne from Domaine Landron Chartier (Muscadet) and the Gewurztraminer is from Alsace. Each quirky and colourful label from his négociant series has been painted by artist and illustrator Aya Sato.