Le Nez dans le Vert
Le Nez Dans le Vert: Spring's First Salon, Winter's Last Grip
They call it the first salon of spring, ( well that what I call it ).. though Jura invariably delivers winter. Just 2.5 hours from my door to Poligny, where this year's Nez Dans le Vert unfolded across the Lycée Polyvalent Hyacinthe Friant and Église du Couvent des Jacobins—a vast improvement over last year's cramped quarters.
Established in 2011, this premier organic wine salon convenes each March, its name punning on "nose in the glass" and "nose in the green." For €10, visitors access 40+ producers across two venues, discovering the region's ouillé revolution—non-oxidative wines revealing Jurassic terroir stripped of Vin Jaune's sherry-like veil. Sunday welcomes both public and trade; Monday remains trade-only. With 30% of Jura vineyards certified organic—double the national average—the fair represents the vanguard of natural wine culture, proving this once-niche region has evolved from oxidative curiosity to serious terroir-driven destination.
The organizers learned their lesson from past queue disasters: Domaine des Miroirs received its own dedicated tasting space, preventing the line from snaking through and suffocating the rest of the fair. Well done. Meanwhile, food vendors and the "mystery wine" outpost were relegated 300 meters away to a small square anchored by a bandstand—charming, practical, and aesthetically fitting. All in all, a thoughtful arrangement.
I attended on the public days, as did plenty of others in the trade. That it remained quiet—that tells you everything about where natural wine economics stand right now. The circularity has tightened; even the insiders are buying tickets like civilians.
But if the crowd felt thinner, the wines have never been more substantial. Jura has quietly staged a revolution in your glass. For centuries, the region's reputation rested on Vin Jaune—those oxidized, sherry-like curiosities aged for years under a protective yeast veil. Yet wander from booth to booth here and you'll discover the style that now defines modern Jura: ouillé meaning "topped up."
By keeping barrels full and oxygen at bay, a new generation of vignerons reveals what these Jurassic limestone slopes actually taste like. Chardonnay gains Burgundian precision without the oak weight; Savagnin shows its true face—zingy, saline, and floral—stripped of the oxidative funk that once masked its terroir. From Stéphane Tissot's laser-focused vineyard designates to the Labet family's old-vine expressions, these wines prove Jura is no longer just a curiosity cabinet of nutty oxidatives, but a serious source of terroir-driven whites.
Our Picks
Standout Producers at Le Nez Dans le Vert
Among the constellation of vignerons pouring in Poligny, several commanded attention. L'Oiseau Rôdeur—the project founded in 2021 by Marie Menoux and Thomas Rougier, friends from Poligny working 5.5 hectares biodynamically—delivered a grand Savagnin ouillé that captured everything exciting about the style: toasted almond notes, searing saline minerality, and a beautiful freshness that spoke directly to the Jurassic limestone beneath their vines.
Hughes Béguet (the name properly spelled, though the apostrophe tends to wander at natural wine fairs) showed the compelling oddity of his orange wines—macerated whites that take their copper hue honestly, without the oxidative disguise of "sous voile" technique. The reference to "orange was the colour of her hair" might seem cryptic to the uninitiated, but in the glass, these wines offer the textural grip of skin contact with the precision of Jura's cool climate.
Nicolas Jacob, working biodynamically across 4.5 hectares in L'Étoile and Cesancey, presented a lineup that was simply outstanding across the board. Since going fully independent in 2019 after years as Jean-François Ganevat's right-hand man, Jacob has developed a reputation for uncompromising, old-school viticulture and painfully long élevages that result in some of the most complete wines in the region. From his Chardonnay "Là-Haut" (planted 1953) to his Savagnin "Aux Perrières," there wasn't a false note in the range.
Finally, Domaine Overnoy wines that over-delivers for its price point—alongside bottles from Ratapoil (the project by Raphaël and Estelle Monnier). Both showed the assembly and balance. wines that are "well put together" in the best sense, meaning they're ready to drink now but built to age gracefully.
Producer Contact Information
L'Oiseau Rôdeur
Marie Menoux & Thomas Rougier
Poligny & Grozon, Jura
Instagram: @loiseaurodeur
Note: No public website; contact via Instagram or inquire through natural wine distributors
Domaine Hughes Béguet
Caroline & Patrice Hughes Béguet
1 rue Bardenet, 39600 Mesnay
Tél: +33 3 84 66 26 39 / +33 6 08 05 68 36
Facebook & Instagram: Domaine Hughes Béguet
Nicolas Jacob
66 impasse du Ruisseau, 39570 Cesancey
Email: kkerry8@hotmail.fr
Website: None listed; contact directly via email for availability
Maison Pierre Overnoy / Domaine Overnoy-Crinquand
Multiple addresses for different branches of the family:
GAEC Houillon-Overnoy (Pierre Overnoy): 03 84 66 24 27
Domaine Overnoy-Crinquand: domaine_overnoycrinquand@yahoo.fr / 03 84 66 01 45
Domaine Overnoy (Orbagna): 26 rue des Fontaines, 39190 Orbagna, 03 84 25 12 31
Ratapoil
Raphaël & Estelle Monnier
Arc-et-Senans, Jura
