Blinding Wine at Le Nez Dans Le Vert, a Dreamy Dinner at a Cozy Jura Inn, and an OG Producer Who Deserves More Praise

Hey guys!

I’ve wrapped up my time in France with a trip to the Jura. After a few weeks of skiing, city exploring, and visiting producers, I ended my stay in this quiet corner of Eastern France where some of the most exciting wines in the world are being made. So, with that said, this week’s newsletter is all about Jura: the wines, the people, and why this place deserves all the hype.

Mystery Bottles at the Jura Wine Fair 🫣🍷 

Breaking down the highlight of the weekend and the clever idea behind it.

The main reason I was in the Jura this past weekend was for Le Nez Dans Le Vert, a natural wine fair held in Arbois that celebrates the region’s deep bench of minimal intervention producers. Nestled in the heart of the Jura, Arbois is already something of a pilgrimage site for wine lovers, and this fair only adds fuel to the fire. With the recent rise of Jura wines on the global stage, the event has become a must-visit for growers, buyers, sommeliers, and enthusiasts alike.

The fair itself was incredible, and something I’ll definitely dive into more later, but what I really want to talk about is the lunch hangout that followed, organized by the fair and held just next door in a nearby parking lot. Every participating winemaker donated bottles to be sold during the lunch, all priced the same at 20 euros. That meant some of the most allocated, hard-to-find producers were mixed right in with lesser-known, more accessible ones.

The twist? Every bottle was sold blind, labeled only with a number, no producer name or label. All you knew was whether it was a white or a red, and that it came from the Jura. The organizers didn’t release the bottle list, or “Number Key”, until after the afternoon had wrapped. They felt that labels can bias wine enthusiasts too much, especially in a region like the Jura, and I think they came up with the perfect solution.

Honestly, I thought it was one of the most fun and democratic ways to blind an entire crowd of wine lovers. Picture long picnic benches filled with strangers, all passing around bottles without hesitation. We ended up tasting some of the rarest bottles I’ve ever had, right alongside wines from a new generation of winemakers I’d never even heard of, I just didn’t realize it until after the fact.

I’d absolutely love to find a way to throw something like this in New York. If that sounds interesting to you, let us know! 🤙 

A Cozy Gathering at Auberge de Bellevie 🏠️ 

How A Tiny Wine Fair Became the Week’s Most Memorable Meal

My time in the Jura was packed with winery visits, salons, and everything in between. But one night early in the week stood out: a small tasting highlighting female winemakers that slowly unraveled into one of those long, hazy, unforgettable dinners you never plan for but somehow end up being exactly where you’re supposed to be.

The event took place at a spot called Auberge de Bellevie, a restaurant, inn, and B&B all rolled into one, tucked away in the village of Grozon, just outside Arbois. From the outside, it looked like any other old countryside building. But inside, it was glowing: warm lights, tables packed with people already deep into their tastings, and that unmistakable hum of a room where something good is happening.

It kicked off with a small salon spotlighting some of the region’s standout female winemakers: Katie Worobeck of Maison Maenad, Maylis BernardIt of Zeroine, and Alice Bouvot of Domaine L’Octavin just to name a few.

As soon as the tasting wrapped up, the staff moved in like a pit crew, rearranging the room into a giant U-shaped setup with mismatched wooden tables and flickering candles stuffed into empty wine bottles. No menus, no seating chart, no ceremony, just grab a seat and see who you end up next to. Honestly, we got super lucky. I was with a friend, we had zero dinner plans, and a winemaker tipped us off that a few spots had opened up from last-minute cancellations. So we slid right in.

The whole scene felt ripped from an old movie. It was cold and pitch black outside, and it seemed like the only light in the whole town was spilling from the windows of Bellevie. It was one of those dinners you stumble into and come out the other side a little different, or at the very least, incredibly full and a little drunk. I sat at the bend of the table, crammed between winemakers and strangers, and for a few hours, ate and drank like I’d lived there my whole life. No pretense, no ego - just pure, unfiltered Jura hospitality. Easily one of the most memorable meals I’ve had in a long time.

Producer Highlight ⭐️ 

One of our favorite parts of wine is the discovery: we’re constantly being put on to new regions, producers, and cuvées from our friends. We’ll never be able to try EVERY wine, but we want to take a moment to mention some producers that excite us!

That’s all for this week! Thanks so much for following along on my Alpine odyssey. As much as I love France, I’m definitely looking forward to being back in New York and finally sleeping in my own bed.

I barely scratched the surface on my time spent here, so I can’t wait to share more stories with you all soon.

Thanks so much for reading along and, as always, drink responsibly 🥂