Jura is faced with volume shortfalls: “Our neighbours in Burgundy warned us, a growing market has to be managed”

Everybody was hoping for more. Ultimately Jura will harvest an average crop in volume terms”, shares Jura winegrower Emmanuel Grand. “Fortunately, quality is good”. As a member of Juraracines – a club with fourteen organic winegrower members promoting Jura appellations – Grand believes that volume restrictions will have to be applied to some customers, and white wines may have to be matured for shorter periods than he would have liked. “Jura wine sales are stable because we have small crops, but the sluggish market is affecting us too”.

The club hosted a trade tasting in Lyon in mid-October, building on its annual event in the spring which is attended by 150 to 200 trade members. Pierre-Armand de Laguiche, who makes wine at his Château d’Arlay, also harvested a “normal crop in 2025 which failed to compensate for the traumatic years previously. In 2021, 80% of my vineyards were damaged by frost and mildew finished off the rest – I didn’t make any wine”, he recalls. “In 2024, I harvested between 6 and 10 hectolitres per hectare. This year, I harvested 30 hl/ha, compared with an average of 38-40 hl/ha in Jura”. Restrictions will have to be introduced for some customers. “There is starting to be talk of allocations in Jura, especially for white wines, ‘vins jaunes’ and Macvin”, he comments. “The aim is not to control the market, but to keep prices affordable so that everyone can be supplied. This is something new to us, and our neighbours in Burgundy warned us: a growing market has to be managed!”

In Jura, where one third of acreage is certified organic, the Juracines club has made it its mission to defend certain appellations that other winegrowers have deserted. Pierre-Armand de Laguiche expounds further: “An appellation continues to be an important resource for getting people to talk about you, and it’s also a wonderful system of protection. Aside from the terroir, an AOC also protects a social model”.