I agree. The Negociant wines brings a lot of joy. But the domaine bottles can be truly magical.
I tasted his top wine Les Vignes de Mon Pere (2003) in 2019. Insane wine!!!
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In 2010, I think, I was traveling in France visiting vignerons with a friend who is in the trade. He’s French, and we’d managed to buy a bottle of Overnoy Vin Jaune at Caves Auge in Paris. We visited the Overnoy/Houillon domaine later, and were able to buy some Chardonnay (8 euros a bottle, if I remember right) and Pierre gifted us a loaf of his bread. We gave samples to other visits for the next couple days – treated by some as though it were communion.
Later in the trip, we stayed in a guest room at Jean Foillard’s domaine. We spent a day with Marcel Lapierre, tasting wines and visiting his vineyards. Marcel dropped us back at Foillard’s, where we were to have dinner with the family. We offered to share the Overnoy Vin Jaune with Jean and his family with the meal. Foillard pulled out his cell phone and called Lapierre, “Hey Marcel, they have an Overnoy Vin Jaune. Get back here for dinner!” Marcel arrived back with his wife about 15 minutes later. Dinner was a local sausage braised with grapes, which didn’t really pair with the Vin Jaune. So we drank other wines, saving the Vin Jaune for the end. When dinner was done, Marcel announced that we’d had too much wine to properly appreciate the Overnoy (he was right), so we didn’t open it. It didn’t last long – we drank it with the Foillards the next evening. I’ll always remember how excited Jean Foillard and Marcel Lapierre were about drinking an Overnoy Vin Jaune. And how Marcel was so respectful of the wine as not to drink it except under the right circumstances. Special, special wine.
I don’t think that Overnoy Vin Jaune is fungible with Macle or Puffeney, each of which I also really like. I my experience, limited to just a few other bottles besides the one with the Foillards, Overnoy Vin Jaune is more delicate and filigreed. The Macle and Puffeney have more power, but not more depth.
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Thread drift, but…
In 2019, I was at a restaurant in Pupilin that was (I later learned) famous for having Overnoy on the list at basically normal list price. A man from Finland sitting next to me who hosted wine events in his home country ordered an Overnoy savignin, then the table next to me of young French somm types ordered the same, so I asked the Finnish guy next to me what everyone was drinking and he explained.
Then, the younger folks complained to the waitress about the wine being off, and the Finnish fellow got up, went to their table and told them the wine was fine but they didn’t understand Overnoy. Then he told the waitress to bring me and my wife a glass to share. Tasted great. What a guy.
Wonderful story, thanks for sharing.
Le Grapiot. Haven’t been there in years, but good food and access to Jura wines. At different times, I drank a 15+ year old Overnoy Chardonnay and an Overnoy Vin Jaune off their list. Just down the street from the domaine.
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Yes, Grapiot. Very good meal, very fairly priced. We had two fun 375s over the course of dinner and then down the hill back “home” to Arbois. Damn, I want to go to France. ![[cry.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/853b6e76c6e8406be77a6727c2a27ad1672678b3.gif "cry"){kind=small}
Had to miss with last-minute cancellation our dinner at Le Grapiot when we visited.
Another local restaurant, but sadly learned that it had closed with the pandemic, was La Balance Mets et Vins in Arbois with Overnoy-Houillon wines at pricing much below what the retail market offered.
Btw, enjoying all the Overnoy stories, as well as pov’s on other producers in the region The relatively below-average interests in the region not surprisingly mean scarce board discussions on the wines, the region and the producers.
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Try the wines (and beer) from Guillaume Overnoy.
The 1993 Overnoy Ploussard is certainly legendary, but more for a tasting note that obliterated the US market for the wine than for any positive qualities: https://www.the-stupids.com/?p=1387. I can attest that the bottle I opened around the same time as the note was similarly flawed.
Over time, however, something interesting happened with the wine. My best bottle was stored at room temperature for more than 15 years. It was surprisingly good, as if the yeasts and bacteria responsible for the grotesque flaws in its youth had battled to mutual extinction. I opened my last bottle a couple of years ago, a bottle that had been stored perfectly since release, and it was merely faded and dull, lacking either the horrors of the young wine or the surprising appeal of the poorly stored one.
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Some of my very best bottles over the years had what appeared to be signs of seepage through the wax on top 
Poulsard is a red grape…so very different in that meaning. I’ve never heard anyone compare them qualitatively though.
I’ve had pretty good luck with Ganevat, Puffeney and Tissot but my experience in the region is appreciably less than nearby Burgundy. A Parisian shop owner suggested trying the wines of Lucien Aviet & Fils. I need to dig out the lone bottle of Trousseau and give it a shot. Vine Trail | Lucien Aviet & Fils
RT
Yes.
Not with poulsard, imo. Ganevat does superbly with whites, the red a bit less.
That might be very true. I should have been more clear. I mean with whites for both Ganevat and Labet.
Totally agree. I’m not so enamored with Ganevat’s reds and I’ve preferred other producers, for example, the old Jacques Puffeney reds, to Ganevat’s. None holds a candle to the Overnoy-Houillon Poulsard.
I can attest to Aviet’s greatness. They make stunning Trousseaus and while I’m not a big fan of Poulsard, Aviet’s Poulsard is nothing short of excellent. They are very serious and savory no-nonsense wines.
This. Some Ganevat reds have been surprisingly good but overall the reds are no match for the stunning whites
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If you ask me, Lucien Aviet is THE grandmaster of Trousseau. In my world, only Puffeney’s Berangeres was as good, often even better.
Another producer that doesn’t really get a lot of press, but, while perhaps not quite on the same level, makes very fine, old-school Trousseau is Daniel Dugois. Michel Gahier is up there as well (some great vineyards).
Jura is just overrun with hipsters these days. Personally, I have little time for those. Luckily, a handful of wonderful, traditional producers remain unperturbed .
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Probably a minority opinion these days, but I have relatively little time for Ganevat myself. The hype just beggars belief. I have always found the reds to be almost without exception unremarkable. Some of his celebrated whites can be very, very good, but, from where I stand, even the best are not really the life-changing experiences that many make them out to be. Labet… well, I’ll just say I really miss the wines made by the previous generation. I guess the jury is still out on how Labet’s and Ganevat’s whites from the last ten years will perform in the cellar. Nonetheless… me, I’ll take Montbourgeau over those any day of the week.
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