Overnoy is a surname that gets Jura wine lovers excited. For a few years now, Guillaume – whose great-uncle is none other than the famous Pierre Overnoy – has been forging a solid reputation for himself, bringing a breath of fresh air to a family domain by crafting excellent wines.
A new era at Domaine Overnoy
Let’s go back to 2013, when at just 19 years old, Guillaume returned to the family domain owned by his father, Jean-Louis, who had settled there in 1982. The farm, belonging to his parents, had been a place for polyculture, but Jean-Louis entirely converted it to viticulture. Guillaume’s arrival marked the beginning of a new era, as he underwent the process of organic conversion before gradually decreasing the use of additives in the winery. Since he reworked these elements, the domain has been on a constant upward journey.
The heart of Domaine Overnoy comprises 2.9 hectares of land in Orbagna, south of Revermont, where the Overnoy family has been cultivating vines for four generations. He also tends to two hectares in the village next to Beaufort, where the 50-year-old vines stretch across sloping land, as well as 0.6 hectares in Cesancey that were planted in 2001. Each of the Jura’s five central grape varieties have a home in the domain’s vineyards, although Chardonnay rules the roost, making up over half of the total vines grown. Most of these vines grow on gentle slopes of 250 to 320 metres above sea level, and the soils in this area are rich in marl and limestone.
A natural approach for lively wines
In the winery, there is little intervention as the grapes become wine. Native yeasts are left to do their fermenting, the white grapes are pressed directly and the reds are destemmed, then there’s a long maturation on fine lees. More precisely, the whites are aged for at least two years and the reds at least one, in 228-litre Burgundy casks or 500-litre containers between four to ten years old. This extensive aging in the underground cellar allows the wine to develop its own kind of rich complexity and a highly elegant texture.
You’ll find the full selection of Guillaume Overnoy wines here