LES DOLOMIES
The history of the Dolomies is relatively short, dating back to only over a dozen years. The winemaker, Céline Gormally initially rented a small 0.5ha parcel in Passenans while still working for other producers in Jura, including Domaines Labet, Badoz and St-Pierre. In 2008, Céline was able to start her 3.65 ha domain with the help from an association called ‘Terre de Liens’ which assists farmers on their agricultural set up and activities.
Today, Céline and her husband Steve work on their vines according to the specifications of organic farming, and employ biodynamic preparations. Their vineyards expanded to 5 ha covering 6 plots in 5 villages, including the well-known Château-Chalon village where their vineyard named ‘La Chaux’ is located.
Les Dolomies took its name from the magnesium limestone found in the area. Under the influence of Julien Labet, Céline focused on wines made in the ‘ouillé’ style, fresh and mineral with great elegance. This approach allows Céline and Steve to display the characteristic of each terroir. The fermentation always occurs from wild yeast and batonnage is the only intervention during fermentation.
The whites are whole bunch pressed, fermented and aged in old Bourgogne barrels (10 years old), and then bottled unfined and unfiltered. The total sulfur dose ( below 25 mg/L) is added in 3 homeopathic doses (pressing, racking, bottling) in order to protect the fermentation that last more than a year. The approach of the reds is more direct; the bunches are destemmed followed by three weeks of maceration and a short aging in older barrels. Adding SO2 is not necessary. Les Dolomies also produces a couple of ‘pet nat’ and a gorgeous Vin de Liqueur named ‘Carmina’ (similar to Macvin du jura).
Les Dolomies approaches its winemaking in a free and personal way, and decided to step out from the Côtes-du-Jura AOC since 2016. 
With support from the community and the winemakers’ perseverance, this small business turned in to a benchmark within the natural wine field in a short amount of time.
