Jean Francois Ganevat Chalasses VV Poulsard 2020

Jean-François Ganevat, affectionately known as “Fanfan,” is one of the Jura’s most influential and respected vignerons. Based in the tiny hamlet of La Combe, near Rotalier in the southern Jura, he took over his family’s domaine in 1998 after training in Beaune and working with Domaine Jean-Marc Morey in Chassagne-Montrachet. The estate today farms around 13 hectares of steep, rocky vineyards, cultivated biodynamically since the late 1990s.

The domaine’s plantings are an extraordinary mosaic: Chardonnay and Savagnin alongside ancient local varieties such as Petit Béclan, Poulsard Blanc, and Melon à Queue Rouge, as well as reds like Trousseau, Poulsard and Pinot Noir. Many vines are very old, some ungrafted and planted on original rootstock, a rarity in Europe. In the cellar, Ganevat is renowned for his patient, meticulous approach: long élevage (often years on fine lees), little to no sulfur, and a philosophy that privileges purity, texture and the articulation of Jura’s complex marl and limestone soils.

Ganevat’s wines—ranging from crystalline Chardonnays to soulful reds and oxidative Savagnins—are celebrated worldwide for their energy, finesse and individuality. They embody both deep respect for tradition and an open spirit of experimentation, making the domaine a reference point for the Jura and one of the most sought-after names in natural and artisanal wine.