France · Château-Chalon

Domaine des Carlines

Domaine des Carlines is a Jura domaine founded by Patrick and Sophie Ligeron at the end of 2015, based in Menétru-le-Vignoble within the Château-Chalon appellation. Its Chardonnay and Savagnin wines combine hand harvesting, used Burgundy barrels, lees ageing and distinct under-veil treatments.

The producer

Patrick and Sophie Ligeron established Domaine des Carlines at the end of 2015, producing the first estate vintage in 2016. The domaine now covers 11 hectares, including three hectares within the Château-Chalon designated area, with clay and grey marl soils, vines averaging 30 to 45 years old, and sustainable viticulture tending towards organic. Patrick hand harvests the grapes, ferments the wines in used Burgundy oak barrels and ages them for about 12 months on lees.

The range shows how Chardonnay and Savagnin respond to different cellar choices. Voile du Chardonnay is 100% Chardonnay aged for two years in oak beneath a natural yeast layer, with aromas of hazelnut butter, ripe yellow apple, tropical fruit, candied citrus, toasted bread and smoky minerality. La Vouivre blends 65% Chardonnay, 30% Savagnin and 5% Chardonnay aged under voile. Its ripe apple, pear, Meyer lemon, cider and spice notes sit alongside balanced minerality, without becoming fully oxidative.

Known for

Chardonnay and Savagnin wines from Menétru-le-Vignoble in the Château-Chalon appellation, including Voile du Chardonnay and La Vouivre, with under-veil ageing used in distinct ways.

Notable facts

The story

The Six Hectares That Changed the Scale

In 2018, Patrick and Sophie Ligeron purchased six additional hectares for Domaine des Carlines. The domaine had been established at the end of 2015, and its first estate vintage was produced in 2016. Before the purchase, the holding covered approximately 5 hectares. The new land brought the domaine to 11 hectares, including three hectares within the Château-Chalon designated area. Across the full holding, those 11 hectares represented approximately 10% of the entire Château-Chalon appellation territory.

From the atlas

Domaine des Carlines

At A Glance

Domaine des Carlines is a Jura domaine in Menétru-le-Vignoble, within the Château-Chalon appellation. Patrick and Sophie Ligeron established it at the end of 2015, and the first estate vintage followed in 2016. The 11 hectare holding works with Chardonnay and Savagnin, including three hectares in the Château-Chalon designated area.

The Producer

Domaine des Carlines grew from approximately 5 hectares to 11 after Patrick and Sophie Ligeron bought six additional hectares in 2018. That expansion gave a young domaine access to a broad spread of local vineyard land, while the wines remain grounded in two Jura grapes, Chardonnay and Savagnin.

Patrick hand harvests the grapes and ferments the wines in used oak barrels from Burgundy. The cellar therefore begins with careful picking and a familiar vessel, then carries the wines through lees ageing. The first vintage was 2016, so the estate's short history is visible in the bottles as an active period of building land, range and cellar practice.

Place

Menétru-le-Vignoble is part of the Château-Chalon appellation, and three of the domaine's 11 hectares lie inside the designated Château-Chalon area. The full holding represents approximately 10% of the appellation's territory. This gives the estate two connected readings of place: some wines come from land tied directly to the Château-Chalon name, while the wider range expresses the village through Chardonnay, Savagnin and different cellar treatments.

The place is therefore present in both landholding and label. Château-Chalon identifies the local appellation frame, while names such as Voile du Chardonnay and La Vouivre point to the grape blend or cellar method shaping the bottle.

Soil And Site

The vineyards sit on clay and grey marl, with vines averaging 30 to 45 years old. Those soils and vine ages form the physical base for a range built around Chardonnay and Savagnin, while sustainable viticulture tending towards organic keeps the farming description precise without claiming organic certification.

Patrick's hand harvesting connects the vineyard directly to the cellar. Grapes are gathered by hand before fermentation in used Burgundy barrels, so the site enters the wine through a deliberate harvest and a vessel already seasoned by previous use.

Story

Patrick and Sophie Ligeron established Domaine des Carlines at the end of 2015, then produced the first estate vintage in 2016. The sequence moved quickly from a new name and a small holding to wines made under the domaine's own label, with Chardonnay and Savagnin at the centre of the range.

The next change was physical. Six more hectares arrived in 2018, expanding the estate to 11 hectares and bringing three hectares within the Château-Chalon designated area. The domaine's wines now draw from a holding large enough to cover both the appellation's named landscape and bottles organised around grape and cellar choice.

Vineyards And Cellar

The vineyard work is hand harvesting, and the cellar uses used oak barrels from Burgundy for fermentation. The wines are aged for about 12 months on lees in those barrels. Lees ageing can add weight and savoury breadth, while the used oak keeps the description centred on fermentation and time instead of new oak flavour.

Voile du Chardonnay receives a separate treatment. It is 100% Chardonnay, aged for two years in oak with a natural yeast layer developing on the surface. That under-veil method places the wine within Jura's distinctive cellar tradition, but its bottle remains a Chardonnay cuvée rather than a general description of every wine at the domaine.

Wines

Voile du Chardonnay is the pure Chardonnay bottle, with two years in oak beneath a natural yeast layer. Its aroma profile moves from hazelnut butter and ripe yellow apple to tropical fruit, candied citrus, toasted bread and smoky minerality. The range position is clear: Chardonnay first, with the cellar method written into the wine's flavour register.

La Vouivre is a blended white wine made from 65% Chardonnay, 30% Savagnin and 5% Chardonnay aged under voile. It shows warm yellow colour and a fruit and spice profile of ripe apple, Meyer lemon, apple cider, yellow pear, candied ginger and spiced walnut. It is not fully oxidative, so the blend keeps Jura's under-veil note in the background while retaining balanced minerality.

En Beaumont Savagnin completes the range as the named Savagnin wine. Its place in the lineup is grape-led, giving the domaine a bottle where Savagnin is the central label cue alongside the Chardonnay-based wines.

In The Glass

La Vouivre rises first with ripe apple, yellow pear and Meyer lemon, followed by apple cider and the warmer scents of candied ginger and spiced walnut. The Chardonnay and Savagnin blend supplies the fruit, while the small under-veil portion adds a savoury, spiced edge without taking the wine into a fully oxidative style.

On the palate, the fruit carries through as yellow apple and pear, then balanced minerality pulls the wine towards a firmer, cleaner finish. The wine's colour and aromatics suggest warmth, but the mineral line keeps the ending from feeling heavy.

Voile du Chardonnay moves in a different direction. Hazelnut butter, toasted bread and smoky minerality sit around ripe yellow apple, tropical fruit and candied citrus. The two years in oak beneath the natural yeast layer account for the bread, nut and smoke register, while Chardonnay keeps the fruit broad and recognisable through the finish.

A Bottle To Understand It

Voile du Chardonnay is the bottle to start with. It is 100% Chardonnay, and its two years in oak beneath a natural yeast layer make the cellar decision easy to connect with what is in the glass. Expect hazelnut butter, ripe yellow apple, tropical fruit and candied citrus, followed by toasted bread and smoky minerality.

This is the most direct meeting of grape, Jura method and Domaine des Carlines' cellar work. La Vouivre adds a blended Chardonnay and Savagnin reading, while Voile du Chardonnay keeps one grape and one under-veil treatment in focus.

Anecdote

In 2018, Patrick and Sophie Ligeron bought six additional hectares for Domaine des Carlines. The purchase came after the domaine had been established at the end of 2015 and had produced its first estate vintage in 2016. Before the acquisition, the holding covered approximately 5 hectares. The new land brought the estate to 11 hectares, including three hectares within the Château-Chalon designated area. Taken together, the domaine's vineyards represented approximately 10% of the entire Château-Chalon appellation territory. A young estate that had begun with a small holding suddenly had a much larger piece of the local landscape beneath its vines.

Final Word

Domaine des Carlines brings together Menétru-le-Vignoble, the Château-Chalon appellation, clay and grey marl, and a Chardonnay and Savagnin range shaped by hand harvesting, used Burgundy barrels and lees ageing. Voile du Chardonnay uses a two year under-veil treatment for a nutty, toasted and mineral Chardonnay, while La Vouivre combines both grapes without becoming fully oxidative. The bottles offer different ways into the same Jura address.

Sources

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