Jura Has Some of France’s Best Wine, Cheeses, and Scenery

The French wine region of Jura may ring a bell even if you’re not an oenophile. In Stephanie Danler’s novel (and show) Sweetbitter, protagonist Tess’s emotionally charged education is kick-started with a “blur of satisfaction” by a glass of Jacques Puffeney’s troussau. In 2018, a bottle of Jura vin jaune that was bottled two years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence sold in a landmark auction for the highest price ever recorded—more than €100,000.

The region’s grapes have been planted in California and cropped up on wine lists everywhere, yet the Jura remains far less crowded than household-name Champagne or the Rhône Valley—though it’s just as easy to access.

The wines made here are unlike those produced anywhere else. And after years as a whispered secret among bartenders, sommeliers, and intrepid travelers, word has finally gotten out.

Not that you’d know it if you visit the Jura. This remote, bucolic region—scattered with tiny villages and set to a soundtrack of tinkling bells of Montbéliarde cows—is the antithesis of Disneyfied wine country. Part of the northeastern Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, the Jura shares a tiny border with Switzerland’s beautiful Jura Vadoise Nature Park. And to entice even more, this is the home of Comté, a mild, semi-hard cheese that goes with everything.

For visitors to France who want to explore a lesser-known and less crowded wine region, here’s everything you need to know about the Jura

Types of wine in the Jura

Perhaps the easiest entry point to Jura’s atypical wines is the sparkling crémant du Jura, the style most produced here. The Jura is one of a handful of French regions to produce crémant, which is made by the same strict processes as champagne. Often only chardonnay grapes are used, making the fizz unusually light and delicate.

Next on the tasting table should be the Jura’s hallmark, vin jaune, aged like sherry under a voile (film) of yeast. This dry, deep-yellow wine is nutty, complex, and intense—and may be the most unusual wine you ever drink. It’s made from the grape savagnin, and each vintage is aged for an astonishing six years in an oak cask.

Still standing? The Jura’s most likeable wines—light yet complex reds—are yet to come. Two signature grapes are planted here: trousseau, a once little-known varietal now making inroads in California, and the obscure ploussard, found almost nowhere else in the world. The latter is used to make deliciously fruity reds, cherry pink in color and almost rosé-like to the untrained eye. They’re often served chilled.

Winemakers in the Jura

The other reason for the Jura’s notoriety among wine lovers is its winemakers, who like to occasionally be a little provocative. Perhaps best known are Anne et Jean-François Ganevat, whose decision to once use nude sketches on his labels forced some international distributors to sign waivers. The suggestive line drawing of a woman with her hand down her underwear on his 2014 vintage, J’en veux!!! (translation: I want some), even had to be replaced with a text label in Canada. These days Ganevat labels are a little more serious, mostly illustrated with pencil-drawn landscapes of the region, but many retain a distinctive red wax seal on top of the cork.

Stéphane Tissot is an organic viticulture pioneer, starting way back in 1999 before moving on to biodynamic wine in 2004. Today, he and his partner Benedicte have a wine cellar in the town of Arbois (see Where to Stay).

Many visitors don’t discover the Jura’s younger pioneers like Loreline Laborde, one of a growing number of female producers making inroads on a traditionally male-dominated industry. Her grapes are grown on a working farm of just 12 acres and her wines—certified organic (with biodynamic practices) and under the label Les Granges Paquenesses—are among the Jura’s most special.

Where to stay in the Jura

Dole is around two hours from Paris on the high-speed Lyria train that goes to Lausanne. We recommend staying on the Lyria until Gare de Mouchard, then taking the local TER train to Arbois, a pretty little town in the heart of the Jura. The total journey from Paris is under three hours, although you could break it up by stopping in Dijon.

In Arbois, check into the five-room Closerie des Capucines, a renovated 17th-century townhouse with a plunge pool, rooftop terrace, and garden. The property also has its own wine cellar, and can arrange tours of nearby vineyards, as well as meetings with winemakers.

Where to taste wine in the Jura

To find wineries in the Jura, either use Jura Tourism’s vineyards map, or search domaine in whatever map app you use. Most wineries offer tastings, sometimes €5–€7 for three to four wines. Sometimes the tastings are free, though in that case the expectation is that you would buy a bottle. Bottles tend to start at €12.

If you’re not sure about door-stepping smaller winemakers (many of them don’t have websites), you can start in the tasting rooms in the commune of Arbois, where people are generous with their pours and their time; these include the caves of Bénédicte et Stéphane Tissot, Domaine de la Pinte, and Domaine de la Tournelle, which includes to a sweet riverside bistro in July and August. A superb place to eat is the Bistrot des Claquets, an unpretentious spot serving seasonal French-leaning mountain fare (think wild asparagus risotto or beef stew with polenta). It’s much loved by visitors and vignerons alike.

Things to do in the Jura

In Arbois itself, consider a visit to Louis Pasteur’s house, where the 19th-century French scientist, lived and worked in his private laboratory, experimenting with vaccines and pasteurization.

Heading out from the town, you’ll see the countryside is lush and hilly. You can choose between continued gourmet adventures or more active pursuits. Start tasting Comté less than 15 minutes outside Arbois at the family-friendly museum Maison du Comté. Nearby is the picturesque village of Château-Chalon, the center of vin jaune production and voted one of the most beautiful villages in France. An hour further is Fort des Rousses, where you can tour its pungent cellars, home to more than 100,000 wheels of slowly maturing Comté.

As you climb in altitude, you’ll also come across turquoise-blue alpine (read: cold) lakes such as Lac de Chalain, which has three beaches with lifeguards (see map), and the Lacs de Clairvaux, the larger of which is ripe for swimming and canoeing. Less than a 20-minute drive northeast takes you to the 213-foot Hérisson waterfalls, around which you can hike. Further afield, it’s just a few hours’ drive north to the great cellars of Burgundy or across the border to genteel Geneva.

Related: Six Underrated French Wine Regions Worth Exploring

When to visit the Jura

You’ll find the Jura most pleasant to explore in late summer and early fall before the harvest, when winemakers aren’t yet in the throes of picking. The most earnest devotees arrive in Lons-le-Saunier in February for the Percée du Vin Jaune, the “piercing of the yellow wine,” a festival marking the opening of the year’s vin jaune vintage, which usually attracts more than 30,000 people (that’s double the town’s population).

This festival is probably best left to the most ardent of Jura wine fans, but you never know—after a first trip, you might just find yourself one of them.

This article was originally published in 2018 and most recently updated on July 31, 2025, with current information. Sophie Friedman contributed to the reporting of this story.