Beaune's Pure Juice Duo

Jean-François Cuzin and François Bouillot came to wine from opposite directions. Jean-François studied viticulture and spent years working in Burgundy's organic wine trade — on the production side, in the vineyards, understanding how grapes become wine from the ground up. François came from the service side: a former sommelier who had spent years pouring, tasting, and listening to what drinkers actually wanted. Their paths converged in Beaune, the commercial and cultural capital of the Côte de Beaune, where they discovered a shared frustration with the status quo [^121^].

Both were obsessed with the same question: could Burgundy be made without sulfur? Without additives? Without the oenological crutches that so many producers rely on to standardise their wines? They were inspired by the radical natural winemakers who had already proven it was possible — Yann Durieux of Recrue des Sens, Julien Altaber of Sextant and Domaine Derain, and the broader zero-zero movement that was gaining momentum across France. But they had no vineyards of their own. They were not heirs to family estates. They were outsiders with expertise and conviction, and the only path available to them was the négoce — buying grapes from growers who shared their philosophy and vinifying them in a rented cellar [^121^][^122^].

In 2018, they took the leap. They founded Double Zéro in Beaune, naming the domaine after their core principle: zero sulfur, zero additives. The name is a manifesto, a warning, and a promise all at once. They began sourcing grapes from organic and biodynamic growers in the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits and from the lieu-dit of Les Pommereys (also known as Saint Martin), a parcel on clay-limestone soils at 300–400 metres elevation. The vines were 20–40 years old — young enough to be vigorous, old enough to have character. From the start, they committed to making "pur jus" — pure juice — wines that expressed the fruit and the terroir without any intervention beyond fermentation [^121^][^122^].

Jean-François and François' cellar work is defined by radical simplicity. They have no tricks, no secrets, no proprietary techniques. Their method is the oldest method: grapes, yeast, time. For the reds — Pinot Noir from the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits and Les Pommereys — they employ whole-cluster fermentation in stainless steel tanks. The bunches are loaded intact into the tank, where indigenous yeasts begin fermentation naturally. Maceration lasts 10–12 days, with gentle pump-overs to keep the cap wet and extract colour and flavour without harsh tannins. After pressing, the wines are aged for 8–10 months in used 228L oak barrels — old enough to add no wood flavour, just enough to let the wine breathe and evolve [^121^][^122^].

For the whites — Aligoté and occasional Chardonnay — the approach varies. The standard Aligoté is directly pressed and fermented in tank or amphora, then aged 6–8 months in stainless steel to preserve freshness and acidity. But Double Zéro also makes an orange wine: the Vin de France Orange, an Aligoté that undergoes 7–14 days of skin contact before pressing. This creates a wine of amber hue, with apricot, spice, and fine tannins — a completely different expression of the grape that showcases the duo's willingness to experiment within their zero-zero framework [^121^].

At no stage is sulfur added. No fining agents are used. No filtration is performed. The wines are bottled as they are — cloudy, vibrant, and alive. Some are labeled as Vin de France, others as regional AOCs (Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, Bourgogne Saint Martin, Coteaux Bourguignons). The choice of label is pragmatic, not ideological: they use the appellation when it suits the wine, and Vin de France when it doesn't. What matters is the juice inside the bottle, not the hierarchy on the label [^121^].