Alice Bouvot is a classically trained cellist who came to wine the long way, studying enology in Bordeaux and Dijon and working from Chile to Napa before heading home to the Jura. She prefers the term vin vivant, living wine, to the label natural, and backs it with zero-sulphur, pure-juice winemaking on five Demeter-certified hectares outside Arbois.
Backstory
Bouvot founded Domaine de l'Octavin in 2005 with her then-partner Charles Dagand, starting small and adding parcels over time. The couple decided early to farm organically and quickly pushed on to biodynamics. Since 2015 she has been the estate's sole owner, running it just outside the town of Arbois, having returned home around the age of 30 after years working abroad.
The Region
Arbois is the historic heart of the Jura, a cool, hilly region in eastern France tucked between Burgundy and Switzerland. Its grey and white marls and limestone, and its damp, continental climate, shape distinctive wines from a small set of local grapes, including the oxidative styles for which the area is famous.
Vineyards & Farming
The domaine comprises about 5 hectares, farmed biodynamically and certified by Demeter since 2010. Bouvot lets wild grasses, weeds, insects, and animals live among the vines, treating the vineyard as a whole ecosystem. Plots include La Mailloche, En Curon, Les Nouvelles, and Les Corvees, on the white and grey marls typical of the Jura. The grapes span Savagnin, Chardonnay, and the local reds Poulsard, Trousseau, and Pinot Noir.
Winemaking
The wines are pur jus, pure juice with nothing added, a practice she has followed since 2009. Bouvot destems by hand, ferments spontaneously with indigenous yeasts, and uses no SO2, cultured yeast, or other additives at any stage. Fermentation and aging happen largely in fibreglass and steel tanks at the cellar's ambient temperature, with no fining or filtration. She prefers the term vin vivant, living wine, to natural.
The Wines
The lineup is expressive and individual, with cuvees such as the Hip Hip Jura range, Cigogne, Zerlina, Sly Vin, Charlot, Elle Aime, and Petit Poussot. Each follows its own path of whole-bunch fermentation, maceration period, or aging, all in service of Bouvot's living-wine ideal and her clear, unmistakable personal stamp.
