Jean-Baptiste Ménigoz

Jean-Baptiste Ménigoz of Domaine des Bottes Rouges didn’t begin his career as a vigneron but rather as a schoolteacher. However, whenever the bell rang, he’d spend all his free time working in vineyards. This continued for nearly ten years, until the day he was taken on for an apprenticeship at the historic Jura estate of Stéphane Tissot. From that point on, he was determined to spend his days in a vineyard fulltime. Encouraged by his friend Raphaël Monnier of Domaine Ratapoil, he launched his estate in 2012, and would vinify his first two vintages of his own. Then in 2014 he was joined by the Dutch-born Florien Kleine Snuverink, who became his business partner. Today, the estate is composed of seven parcels for a total of seven hectares, planted in a diversity of soils, from limestone to clay to marl. Jean-Baptiste farms his vines organically, and the principles of biodynamics are applied depending on the needs of each parcel. This is proper natural wine, and already one of the surest values in the Jura!