Region & History

Crémant du Jura has held its appellation since the decree of 9 October 1995. Its specification records that wine with a second fermentation in the bottle has been made in the Jura since the 17th century. Even the still wines of Arbois and L’Étoile gave up part of their harvest for sparkling wine back then. The growing communes all lie in the Jura département, for example Lons-le-Saunier.

In the 20th century, individual families specialized entirely in pressing gently and leaving the bottles to rest on laths for a long time. Today, producers bottling Crémant du Jura include Domaine Rolet and the cooperative Fruitière Vinicole d’Arbois. By its own account, the Fruitière was founded in 1906 and has been making wine at Château Béthanie since 1969.

Louis Pasteur also grew up in Arbois; he later showed that living yeasts ferment sugar into alcohol. That is exactly what happens in every bottle that undergoes its second fermentation.

Savoy has only been part of France since 1860, and its crémant is much younger still. Crémant de Savoie is regarded as the youngest French crémant appellation. Its first harvest was in 2014, and it has been on the market since December 2015. Seyssel mousseux on the Rhône is older; according to the usual account, its appellation dates from 1942.

For 2009, the Jura specification cites around 310 hectares and about 19,000 hectoliters of sparkling wine, equivalent to more than two million bottles. Savoy produces far less: Crémant de Savoie remains a small share of French crémant volume, which stood at 114.5 million bottles in 2024.