Domaine des Bodines is the now-ended project of Alexis and Emelie Porteret, who for a decade produced small quantities of high-quality wine from their tiny vineyard on the outskirts of Arbois.

Alexis and Emilie took over the domaine in 2010. Up until 2017, Alexis was working part time for another domaine and then, not long after deciding to work full time at home, sustained a pretty serious injury playing rugby. Emelie then took on the bulk of the vineyard work and essentially vinified the entire harvest single-handed in 2017. It was a mammoth few years for this young family and their determination to never compromise the quality of the wines amidst these challenges, not to mention the catastrophic weather conditions for certain years (frost and hail), is very admirable.

The region is made up of several sub-zones, all of which offer different terroir profiles. Here on the Route de Dole, just a few minutes from the centre of Arbois, the Domaine des Bodines is planted across a gentle slope that captures most of the days’s sun. The aspect is essentially north-west and the growing conditions are just right for wines with delicious maturity but a core of really fresh acidity. The clay slows the ripening process down and the limestone helps the wines keep their inherent acidity - it’s an excellent place to grow grapes.

The four-hectare vineyard from which the wines were produced is planted over classic Jura clay and limestone soils. The domaine produced pinot noir, poulsard, chardonnay, savagnin and Vin Jaune. Of these, only the reds are still available in Australia.