From San Diego to Saint Aubin
Jonathan Purcell was on a baseball scholarship at Northwestern when he chose wine over the pitch. A decade later, he's the torchbearer for Jean-Jacques Morel's no-till legacy in Burgundy, making zero-sulfur, gravity-fed wines from Puligny-Montrachet to Beaujolais.
Baseball to Burgundy
Jonathan Purcell grew up in Oceanside, North County San Diego, where his dad's wine cellar provided his first sips of Burgundy. College scouts noticed his 88-mile-an-hour fastball, and Northwestern offered a baseball scholarship. But as soon as he graduated, Jon chose wine over the pitch.
He found a harvest job at Beaulieu Vineyards in Napa, but got fired on the crush pad when a supervisor caught him throwing grapes at a fellow intern (a litmus test, he jokes, of B.V.'s character). He landed at White Rock Vineyards, where Henri — a native Frenchman — encouraged him to look to France. In 2012, Jon moved to Burgundy, enrolling at the Lycée Viticole in Beaune [^146^].
What followed was an impressive apprenticeship: stints at Domaine des Croix, legendary Philippe Pacalet, Domaine de Montille (as tractor operator), and Domaine Matrot. The natural wine world opened up through friendships with Camille Lapierre, Alex Foillard, Yann Bertrand, Christian Knott (Chandon de Briaille), and Andrew Nielsen (Le Grappin). A trip to the Ardèche — visiting Gilles Azzoni and Jérôme Jouret — sealed his path [^145^].
"Jon named his label Vin Noé — vin is wine in French, plus his maternal grandmother's family name, Noé, which disappeared with her generation, because she was one of three sisters."
— On the family name
The Ardeche Style
In 2016, Jon launched Vin Noé in a 100-year-old cooperative cellar in Auxey-Duresses, sharing space with Chris Santini's micro-collective. He started with purchased fruit: Beaujolais-Villages from Lantignié, Pommard, Aligoté from Bouzeron, Juliénas. But the approach was never conventional.
Inspired by Daniel Sage in the Ardèche, Jon developed what he calls the "Ardèche style" — semi whole cluster, semi direct-press ferments like steeping tea, where whole clusters are immersed in pressed juice. He never destems his whites, sometimes uses skin contact, and favors long, slow press cycles (24 hours) with his Fichet basket press. Gravity-fed transfers — no pumps ever touch the wine [^146^].
Only once has Jon used sulfites: 3g/HL in his 2017 Juliénas. Since then, never. "I just never appreciated anything sulfites did to a wine." Every wine since has been completely sans soufre.
For reds, it's whole cluster with pigeage in small foudre, steel, or fiberglass tank. Long macerations extract depth without heaviness. For whites, he never destems — and sometimes adds skin contact for texture.
"Preternaturally calm, competent, and modest... every decision is taken with the utmost care and thoughtfulness. Corners are never cut."
— On Jon's approach
The Morel Legacy
In 2021, everything changed. Jon met Jean-Jacques Morel — a Saint Aubin vigneron and original proponent of natural wine — at a dinner party. By the end of the night, J.J. had invited Jon to take over his vines and cellar. Morel had been wanting to retire and had found his torchbearer [^146^].
Jon moved into Morel's historic cellar in the hamlet of Gamay, built into the hillside under the vines. He inherited 0.80 hectares of Chardonnay: Saint Aubin 1er Cru "La Chatenière," Saint Aubin 1er Cru "Les Combes" (La Combe), and a high-sited parcel of Puligny-Montrachet, "Le Trèzin" in Blagny. These were low-yield, no-till organic vineyards — a rarity in Burgundy where plowing is standard [^145^].
The Vineyards
La Chatenière: 0.2ha parcel planted by J.J. in the early 2000s after being abandoned since the 1930s. South-west exposure, iron-rich red clay over limestone.
La Combe: 0.4ha low-lying parcel across from the cellar. Heavy clay, north-east exposure, 25-year-old vines.
Le Trèzin: High-sited Puligny parcel on the ridge bordering Saint Aubin.
Jon has adapted Morel's approach: he ploughs minimally — four times per year by horse (Auxey) and hoe/cable plow (Chatenière) — to restore vigor while respecting the soil's integrity. In 2025, he'll plant "Isaac" — a 20-are field blend of Pinot Noir (60%), Trousseau (20%), Pinot Gris (10%), and Aligoté/Gamay/Chardonnay (10%) — named after his son.
Patient & Thoughtful
Vin Noé wines are distinguished by their intentionality. This is truly a one-man operation — every decision reflects Jon's patient, painstaking approach. He grows production little by little each year, choosing quality over quantity at every turn. The wines are joyful yet cerebral, terroir-driven yet unpretentious [^140^].
He's a "thoughtfully adaptive" winemaker, playing with what each vintage gives him: adding Aligoté to ripe Gamay (Amour Vache), extending aging on Chatenière to two years, experimenting with criss-crossing lees to perpetuate healthy ferments (racking Chenin with Riesling lees). His humid, under-vineyard cellar — with wines aging beneath the vines themselves — is ideal for ageing, and he seldom tops up, preferring the slow oxidation that builds complexity [^146^].
Jon works with Elise Pavelot (daughter of Savigny producer Hugues Pavelot) to create block print labels that originate as hand-carved wooden stamps. Each label is a work of art — fitting for wines that blur the line between craft and art.
From farming to crushing to bottling, Jon does it himself. He quit his day job as tractoriste for Domaine Matrot in 2021 to focus entirely on Vin Noé. Every bottle reflects this singular vision and tireless work ethic.
The Vin Noé Wines
All wines are organic or biodynamic, hand-harvested, fermented with wild yeasts, gravity-fed without pumps, unfined, unfiltered, and zero sulfur added. Production is tiny — approximately 90 hectoliters annually — from leased, purchased, and now estate parcels across Burgundy and Beaujolais [^140^].