Clos Joliette

Clos Joliette is one of the most iconic and elusive wineries in the Jura region of France, with a history that goes back nearly a century and a reputation built on rare, carefully produced and aged wines.

History
The vineyard at Clos Joliette was first planted in 1929 by Maurice Migné, who cleared a single hectare of forest in the Jurançon appellation's Chapelle de Rousse area. His pioneering work involved planting ungrafted Petit Manseng vines, unusual for the time, especially since estate bottling was not common yet.

The estate quickly gained a cult following, and by the 1980s was recognized for exceptional wines that some great names in wine, like Jean-Claude Berrouet of Château Petrus, praised as examples of an exceptional terroir. The estate was mostly producing sweet wines historically, but when the market shifted in the 1970s, they expanded into dry wines.

After Maurice passed away in the late 1980s, the estate changed hands and remained mostly private, with very limited releases until 2015. Since then, under new ownership by Lionel Osmin, Clos Joliette has gained renewed attention and the status of a “unicorn” wine in the wine world, with its tiny vineyard producing extremely rare bottles prized by collectors.​

The Vineyards
The vineyard at Clos Joliette covers only about 1.8 hectares, situated in a southeast-facing natural amphitheater. The site’s complex soil is a mix of rounded pudding stones, silica, limestone, clay, and iron-rich subsoil. This unique blend provides excellent drainage and mineral expression. The vines are ungrafted petit manseng, a grape with a thick skin and ability to obtain the best quality in Jura’s climate, wuth a slow and complete ripening.

The vineyard’s small size and careful management helps to produce wines with intense concentration of high quality.​

The Terroir
Like many famous domaines en chateau in France, Clos Joliette’s terroir is a big part of its quality. The southeast-facing slope ensures plenty of sunshine, while the heavy mix of pudding stones and limestone creates a mineral backbone and excellent drainage.

The vineyard is located in the Jurançon region, famed for its sweet and dry wines, and benefits from a climate that supports slow ripening and creates a balance between acidity and sugar. The iron-rich soil sublayer adds a unique flavor elements. This terroir combination produces wines with complexity, freshness, and depth.

Way of Winemaking
Clos Joliette’s winemaking is slow and meticulous. Most grapes are handpicked, fermented using local yeasts, and there's as little intervention as possible to allow the terroir to present itself as much as possible.

Fermentation and aging is done in both traditional oak barrels and concrete tanks. The way of winemaking keeps the wine free of any additives to preserve the pure expression of the vineyard. The small scale of production, only a few thousand bottles annually, means every step can be carefully controlled.​

3 Fun Facts
Clos Joliette’s vines are ungrafted, which is rare today and lets the roots grow deep into the original soil, contributing to the wine’s extraordinary flavor depth.

The estate’s wines hold “unicorn” status because of their rarity, with older bottles from the Migné era highly prized by collectors worldwide.

Despite its small scale, Clos Joliette has received glowing praise from some of the biggest names in wine criticism, including a perfect 100-point score from Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate under new ownership.​