Ruppert-Leroy, is a small winery with less than 5 ha of vineyard. It lies at the southeastern limit of the appellation just 5 km from the border with the Côte d’Or. The domaine’s vineyards have been
farmed organic for the past 30 years. They are now biodynamic, and for a couple of years they have been making their Champagnes without any added SO2 from A to Z (from the pressed juice to the
bottling).

The turning point was 4 years ago when Gerrad Ruppert and Benedicte Leroy took the decision to convert the vineyards to biodynamic farming. This led them to the meeting with Jura’s natural wine
legend, Pierre Overnoy. Gerard and Benedicte, unaware of Overnoy’s stature, simply went and knocked on his door. Overnoy proved extremely generous with his time, explaining and demonstrating how
he captured the magic of his terroir in the bottle.

Throughout the following years, Gerard and Benedicte have ultimately found their own way, experimenting relentlessly to find what is best for their wine. This includes everything from length of élevage and minimizing sulfur use to radical ideas of their own. They’ve constructed a new winery of brick with a wooden roof and wood and straw insulation so that the wines can breathe as much as possible during ageing. They are using a very lightweight tractor to transport the grapes to the winery as gently as possible. This allows them to reach the pressoir completely intact, avoiding pre-fermentation oxidation and lowering the need for sulphur.!