Alice Bouvot_banner
Jura, France

Domaine de L’Octavin

Alice

A native of the Jura, Alice Bouvot settled in Arbois in 2005, where she founded Domaine de l'Octavin. From the vines of Savagnin, Chardonnay, Poulsard or Trousseau and Pinot Noir, the whole palette of the Jura is honoured and Alice's touch, sensitive, discreet, delicate, can be found in her emotional wines carried by a refreshing acidity which is so dear to her...

Alice Bouvot Square

Domaine de l'Octavin at a glance

CountryFrance
RegionJura
VillageArbois
Cultivated grapesSavagnin, Poulsard, Trousseau...
First vintage2005
Size3.5 hectares
CertificationsOrganic agriculture (AB), Demeter
OUr favoritesDorabella, P'tit Poussot

Wonder Woman

Born in the Jura region, it was after studying in Bordeaux and Dijon, and then travelling from Chile to Napa Valley, that Alice returned to her native land at the age of 30. There she met her then partner, with whom she founded Domaine de l'Octavin in Arbois in 2005. They both quickly became convinced that organic and biodynamic methods were the way to go, and the entire estate was certified Demeter in 2010.

To the few hectares of the beginning, new vines are gradually added, Chardonnay, Savagnin, Pinot Noir, Trousseau and Poulsard... the whole range of Jura grape varieties, which shine with their freshness and acidity, ideal for shaping these natural wines, as Alice likes them. Having studied cello at the conservatory, she often compares wine to classical music and improvisation. Far from the technological wines learnt in schools, the natural wine represents for Alice a certain idea of improvisation, not being there to act but to accompany the grapes, with emotion.

To cope with the years of frost and the small harvests that accompany them, Alice is developing a line of négoce wines, with grapes coming from her friends in Beaujolais, the South of France or even the neighbouring Bugey. These are wines with offbeat labels, with the now famous garden gnomes, which once again prove Alice's talent and special touch, while pushing back the boundaries of her native Jura...

Looking for dwarfs

Today, the wines of Octavin and the work of Alice are inseparable from the famous labels with the little dwarfs. A signature that has probably contributed to the unique character and identity of her wines.

Originally, Alice wanted to dress her bottles of Trousseau with a humorous drawing, playing on words to evoke the grape variety, with a hole and a bucket, and it was the wife of her friend Olivier "Olif" Grosjean who suggested a garden gnome, designing the label that still dresses the bottles of Corvée de Trou Trou. A dwarf that hit the nail on the head and was gradually found on most of the labels of Alice's wines, to the delight of all.

The village of Arbois, France

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