The Comfort of the Very Long Press
Alexandre Plassat is a rising star of the new-school Jura, based in Saint-Germain-lès-Arlay in the Côtes du Jura. Originally from Lot-et-Garonne and raised in Toulouse, he studied agronomy before working in conventional viticulture at the Arbois cooperative. His conversion to natural wine came through Sylvain Oudet, a caviste in Poligny, who opened his eyes to a different way of working. In 2016, Alexandre joined Jean-François Ganevat's domaine in Rotalier — the beating heart of Jura natural wine — where he trained for three years in minimal-intervention techniques, working alongside the legendary vigneron and absorbing the philosophy of indigenous yeast fermentation, long ageing, and zero sulfur. In 2019, while still employed at Ganevat, he began his own project with just 0.6 hectares, expanding to 2.2 hectares by 2022 and roughly 2.8 hectares today across sites in Montain, Quintigny (near L'Étoile), Pannessières, Vernantois, and Gevingey. His vineyards, in conversion to organic certification, are planted to Chardonnay (almost half), Trousseau, Poulsard, Gamay, and Savagnin on diverse terroirs including gray marl, clay, and Bajocian limestone. Alexandre's zero-zero approach is uncompromising: hand-tended vines, native yeast fermentation, no additives, no sulfur, no fining, no filtration. His signature technique is a very long vertical press — whites and reds pressed for extended periods in an antique manual press, extracting flavour and texture without aggression. He ages wines in old barrels for remarkably long periods — some whites spend three years in wood, tightening and focusing despite gentle oxidation. He is unafraid of experimentation: passing wines over marc to finish sugars, using micro-négociant fruit for original blends, macerating whites for texture. His cuvées — Le Bois Moisi, Les Humains, Au Couvent, La Massette, Les Betoules, Le Bruit — are aromatic, balanced, fruit-driven, and deeply individual, each vintage bringing new ideas and new combinations. After difficult frost years that cost him most of his crop, Alexandre has now left Ganevat to focus entirely on his own estate, building one of the most exciting new names in Jura natural wine.
From Conventional Co-op to Ganevat's Cellar
Alexandre Plassat was born in Lot-et-Garonne and raised in Toulouse, in the southwest of France — far from the Jura's vineyards and the natural wine revolution that would eventually define his life. He studied agronomy, a scientific path that led him to conventional viticulture at the Arbois cooperative, where he learned the standard practices of modern wine production. But something was missing. The wines he made there felt distant, processed, disconnected from the land they came from [^61^][^70^].
The turning point came through Sylvain Oudet, a caviste (wine shop owner) in Poligny who introduced Alexandre to natural wine — living, unfiltered, sulfur-free wines that tasted of their place and their vintage in a way conventional wines never could. This discovery changed everything. Alexandre sought out the source of this philosophy, and in 2016 he joined Domaine Jean-François Ganevat in Rotalier, the most celebrated natural wine estate in the Jura, perhaps in all of France [^61^][^70^].
For three years, Alexandre worked alongside Ganevat, learning the techniques that would shape his own approach: indigenous yeast fermentation, minimal intervention, extended ageing in old barrels, and the complete absence of sulfur. He vinified at Ganevat while simultaneously building his own project, beginning in 2019 with just 0.6 hectares. By 2022, he had expanded to 2.2 hectares. Today, he farms roughly 2.8 hectares across multiple sites, having left Ganevat in 2023 to focus entirely on his own estate [^61^][^64^].
"À partir de la troisième année en fût, les blancs vont avoir tendance à se tendre à nouveau."
— Alexandre Plassat, on extended barrel ageing
Montain, Quintigny & Beyond
Alexandre's roughly 2.8 hectares are spread across several sites in the central and southern Jura: Montain, Quintigny (near the L'Étoile appellation), Pannessières, Vernantois, and Gevingey. This is not the famous southern Jura of Ganevat's Rotalier; it is the quieter, less celebrated centre of the region, where the vineyards are smaller, the terroirs more varied, and the attention less intense. Alexandre has embraced this relative obscurity, finding parcels that others overlooked and farming them with obsessive care [^61^][^64^].
The vineyards are in conversion to organic certification. Alexandre has never employed synthetic treatments — no herbicides, no pesticides, no chemical fertilizers. The soils are diverse: gray marl, clay, and Bajocian limestone, each giving a different character to the wines. Almost half the plantings are Chardonnay, with the rest composed of Trousseau, Poulsard, Savagnin, and Gamay. These are the classic Jura varieties, but Alexandre treats them with a freedom that comes from his Ganevat training and his own restless experimentalism [^61^][^64^].
The most prized site is the Bois Moisi parcel in Montain — old Chardonnay vines on Triassic marls, a geological formation that gives wines of extraordinary minerality and ageing potential. Other parcels contribute their own voices: the generosity of Montain, the precision of Quintigny, the freshness of the northern sites. Alexandre farms everything by hand, tending vines with the intimacy that only a small surface allows. Yields are low, especially after difficult frost years that have cost him the majority of his crop [^61^][^70^].
The jewel of Alexandre's holdings — old Chardonnay vines on marnes du Trias in Montain. These Triassic marls are a geological treasure, giving wines of intense minerality, saline tension, and remarkable ageing potential. The 2019 Bois Moisi, still in barrel at the time of first tasting, showed energy and potential that pointed to a long future. This is terroir that demands patience, and Alexandre gives it exactly that.
From Montain's marls to Quintigny's limestone, from Pannessières to Vernantois and Gevingey, Alexandre's parcels span a range of soils and microclimates. Gray marl gives Chardonnay its signature tension. Clay adds body and depth to reds. Bajocian limestone contributes the bright acidity that defines Jura's best wines. This diversity is not a challenge; it is a resource that Alexandre exploits through site-specific vinification.
Alexandre's vineyards are in conversion to organic certification, but his practices have been organic from the start. No synthetic treatments, no chemical weed killers, no mineral fertilizers. Everything is done by hand — pruning, tying, canopy management, harvesting into small crates. The intimacy of small-scale farming means Alexandre knows every vine, every row, every shift in the vintage. This is not romanticism; it is the only way to make wine without sulfur or additives.
Alexandre is part of a generation of young vignerons who passed through Ganevat's cellar before establishing their own estates — alongside Nicolas Jacob, Katie Worobeck (Maison Maenad), and Damien Bastian (Ça Boit Libre). What they learned at Rotalier was not just technique but philosophy: that wine can be made without sulfur, that long ageing in old wood brings focus, that indigenous yeast fermentation is not risky but essential. Alexandre carries this legacy forward, adapted to his own terroirs and his own restless creativity.
Zero-Zero, Very Long Press, Extended Ageing
Alexandre's cellar work is defined by three principles: zero sulfur, a very long vertical press, and extended ageing in old barrels. The zero-zero approach means no additives of any kind — no selected yeasts, no enzymes, no fining agents, no filtration, and absolutely no sulfur at any stage. Fermentations are spontaneous, carried out by indigenous yeasts present on the grape skins and in the vineyard. The wines are unfiltered, with natural sediment that preserves texture and complexity [^61^][^70^].
The press is the heart of his method. Alexandre uses an antique manual vertical press — slow, gentle, and extraordinarily long. Whites and reds are pressed for extended periods, extracting flavour and texture without the aggression of modern pneumatic presses. This very long press is not a gimmick; it is a technique borrowed from Ganevat that Alexandre has made his own, resulting in wines of remarkable purity and finesse. As wine writer Aaron Ayscough observed, there is "comfort in the very long press" — a sense that time and patience yield something impossible to rush [^64^].
Ageing is equally unhurried. Alexandre ages his wines in old barrels for remarkably long periods — some whites spend three years in wood, a duration almost unheard of for young vignerons with limited stock. "From the third year in barrel, the whites tend to tighten up again," he notes, describing a phenomenon that conventional winemakers avoid but Alexandre embraces. The gentle oxidation of extended barrel ageing, combined with the tightening effect of time, produces whites of extraordinary focus and longevity. Reds, too, age patiently, developing complexity without losing freshness [^70^].
The Comfort of the Very Long Press
Alexandre Plassat's signature technique — the very long vertical press — is both practical and philosophical. Practically, it extracts maximum flavour and texture from the grapes without the bruising or oxidation that faster, more mechanised presses can cause. Philosophically, it embodies everything that defines his approach: patience over speed, gentleness over force, time as an ingredient rather than an obstacle. In an era where wineries invest in the latest pneumatic presses and flash-détente systems, Alexandre stands over an antique manual press, turning the screw slowly, letting gravity and time do the work. The comfort he finds in this process is palpable — a sense that the wine is being coaxed, not conquered. And the results speak for themselves: whites of crystalline purity, reds of silken texture, all carrying the imprint of a vigneron who trusts slow processes and refuses shortcuts.
New School Jura, Restless & Creative
Alexandre Plassat has rapidly become one of the most exciting new names in Jura natural wine — not through hype or volume, but through sheer quality, creativity, and an unwavering commitment to his zero-zero philosophy. His wines are exported to Europe, the US, and beyond, with importers like Newcomer Wines, Vins de Lieux, and La Cave Pigalle championing his cause. But quantities are tiny, especially after frost years that devastated his crop [^61^][^77^].
What sets Alexandre apart is his experimentalism within a framework of rigour. He is not afraid to try unusual techniques: passing Chardonnay over Riesling marc to finish sugars and add aromatic complexity (Les Humains), blending Jacquère from Chignin with his own Chardonnay (Les Betoules), macerating whites for texture, or creating light, spicy reds from Poulsard and Trousseau that blur the line between rosé and orange wine (Au Couvent). Each vintage brings new cuvées, new combinations, new ideas — his wines "will not resemble each other from vintage to vintage," as one early taster noted [^70^].
Alexandre's personality is modest, focused, and deeply connected to his work. He does not seek celebrity; he seeks understanding — of his vines, his soils, his fermentations, his barrels. The energy and potential in his first vintages were evident to early visitors, and that promise has only deepened as he has expanded his holdings and refined his techniques. He is, in the best sense, a vigneron's vigneron — someone who makes wine because he cannot imagine doing anything else, and who lets the wine speak with a voice that is unmistakably his own [^70^][^75^].
"Amoureux du vivant, Alexandre Plassat cultive essentiellement du chardonnay, en veillant scrupuleusement à la santé des sols et à la biodiversité environnante."
— iDealwine
The Alexandre Plassat Range
All wines are made from organically farmed estate fruit (and occasional micro-négociant additions), hand-harvested and hand-tended. Indigenous yeast fermentation, zero sulfur, no additives, no fining, no filtration. Very long vertical press, extended ageing in old barrels. The range changes vintage by vintage as Alexandre experiments with new combinations, new sites, and new techniques. These are living wines — unfiltered, with natural sediment, meant to be carafed and served cloudy [^61^][^70^].