By Tiffany Vernon

Approx read time: 3.5 minutes.

During their recent visit to C&B HQ, Juliette Puyperoux and Jean Orsoni took the time to introduce the team to their domaine, Le Puy de l’Ours, and answered a few quick questions about their experience so far.

When Juliette Puyperoux and Jean Orsoni met 18 years ago, they shared a dream of one day owning their own domaine. They believed this wouldn’t be realised until they were firmly into their forties, so in the meantime, they moved to Paris and began high-flying careers in wine sales and banking respectively. But in 2019, an opportunity arose which would make their dream a reality. As Jean puts it, “When the train is ready to leave, you have to be prepared to take it!”.

Jean’s roots are in farming in Corsica, while Juliette’s heritage is in Burgundy, where a small estate has remained in her family for 200 years. Her grandparents continued the familial winemaking tradition until 2004, when they sold their business. They did, however, retain the vines and winemaking facilities which they rented out thereafter. In 2019, Juliette and Jean purchased this 3.5-hectare vineyard to set up their own vision: Le Puy de l’Ours.

The pair relocated to Burgundy and began viticulture training, including winemaking internships worldwide. They expanded their vineyard holdings where they could, including what was previously an acorn field in the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune, which they replanted with vines in 2022, bringing their current total to seven hectares.

Their approach to wine is clearly borne of passion and humility with their love for the arts interwoven into every bottle. Their wine labels, designed by Louise Lachaux, are all inspired by famous artworks and a touch of symbolism to represent each cuvée. Every detail of these wines feels personal and distinctive.

 

Please can you briefly introduce yourselves and your domaine?

[Jean] Hello, we are Jean and Juliette from Le Puy de l’Ours. We established our domaine in the appellation of Savigny-lès-Beaune in 2019. At the very beginning, we had around 3.5 hectares of vines, which we have slowly expanded, and we now have around seven hectares. We do all of the farming and vinification organically and we make six cuvées — three reds and three whites — which all come from in and around Savigny.

 

You both previously had successful careers in Paris. What attracted you to return to Juliette’s family’s winemaking roots and begin a new career in wine?

[Juliette] We have had this common passion for wine since we met 18 years ago, so this project has actually been in the making for a very long time! We really wanted to work in wine production and in 2019 we had the chance to make that dream a reality, so we took the opportunity to buy a vineyard and begin making our own wine.

 

Is running a domaine more demanding than your previous careers? How easy was it to realise your winemaking dream?

[Jean] Running your own domaine definitely requires more skills and different skills compared to our previous careers. I don’t know if it’s harder or easier compared to what we did before, but we have realised how important it is to be surrounded by the right people to support your goals. Our employees, for example, help us to be as ambitious as we can and ultimately work in the best way we can too.

 

Can you tell us about Savigny-lès-Beaune and your wines in the context of the appellation?

[Juliette] Savigny-lès-Beaune has one of the biggest vineyard areas in the Côte de Beaune. It’s very interesting because it has many different terroirs. We can see this in our own wines, in fact, because we make three Savignys, yet they are very, very different from one another. In recent years, there has been a surge of new winegrowers and winemakers in Savigny, which has contributed to the renewal of this underestimated region.

 

 

Your first vintage was in 2021: what have you learnt over the past three years?

[Jean] Our biggest learning so far is how resilient we should be. That applies to everything; for all the various stages of production or issues that we might face year after year. Because things can be so different from one year to another, resilience is the keyword for the next coming years, for farming but also for the vinification.