When Henri Maire stood for the Jura...

The name of the imposing Jura house, Henri Maire, and its creator are back in the spotlight. With the takeover of the Henri Maire company in 2015 by the Boisset family – the large Burgundy group, expanded in a number of French regions and beyond – comes the "reinvention" and return in 2023 of the famous Vin Fou that became famous throughout France from the 1950s onwards.

The creation of Henri Maire, a major figure in Arbois, of a Jura trademarked sparkling wine was not always strictly jurassien – the grape supply was far from only local. Its success propelled by quasi-aggressive advertising and sales methods, and facilitated by various political figures of the Franche-Comté, the brand imposed itself in post-war France as a bold and pioneering marketing concept. However, this innovation, which certainly had more to do with business acumen than the pursuit of quality, must be considered in its context.

At the end of the 19th century and first half of the 20th century, the Jura vineyards were in a sorry state: ravaged by phylloxera and then by both world wars; greatly diminished by the replanting of rough or hybrid grape varieties intended to produce wines for everyday consumption; hindered by its peripheral geographical position and, finally, disarmed against competition of wines from the South. Polyculture and/or livestock farming then took priority over viticulture and the rural exodus weakened a winegrowing area already on its knees. Despite the emergence of cooperatives (such as the Fruitière vinicole d'Arbois in 1906) and the obtainment of the Arbois AOC in 1936, the Jura vineyard was struggling to survive. Part of its salvation came from a handful of producer-merchants, among whom the most important and by far the most decisive was Henri Maire (1917-2003), who, from the 1940s onwards, established a vast estate – covering some 300 hectares, mainly in the Arbois appellation area – and a powerful company. He bought up vines doomed to disappear, harvests from struggling winegrowers and wine from cooperatives lacking a market, restoring parcels of vines and replanting with low-yielding varieties: by saving the vines and participating widely in the production of Jura wines, as well as promoting Jura appellations, Henri Maire played an undisputed historical role. The invention of the popular Vin Fou was one of the instruments of his approach.

More controversial, however, are the practices of the Henri Maire company in terms of viticulture and vinification – "revolutionary" methods typical of the prevailing productivism... Following different practices, domaines such as Rolet, Tissot or Aviet instilled greater rigor in the Jura vineyards from the 1960s onwards. And above all, the 1980s/90s saw the emergence of pioneers finding precision in natural wine: Pierre Overnoy, Evelyne and Pascal Clairet (Domaine de la Tournelle), Stéphane Tissor (Domaine André and Mireille Tissot), Jean-François Ganevat, the Labet domaines, Pignier, La Renardière, La Pinte and Bornard, among others. Far from the viticulture represented by Henri Maire, these adherents of organic and biodynamic principles transformed the Jura winegrowing landscape, as well as its attractiveness, preparing the ground for the new generation that emerged in the 2000s: Alice Bouvot (Domaine de l'Octavin), Fabrice Dodane (Domaine de Saint-Pierre), Étienne Thiébaud (Domaine des Cavarodes), Kenjiro Kagami (Domaine des Miroirs), Julien Mareschal (Domaine de la Borde), Valentin Morel (Domaine Les Pieds sur Terre), Jean-Baptiste Menigoz (Domaine Les Bottes Rouges), François Rousset-Martin…

Times have changed, and for the better!