Arbois-Pupillin is the appellation title for Arbois wines made from the vineyards of Pupillin, a small village perched on limestone slopes just to the south of Arbois in eastern France.
Arbois is the wine capital of the Jura region and is quantitatively its most important appellation. The title covers red, white and rose wines, as well as Jura's famous vin jaune ('yellow wine') and vin de paille. While Arbois-Pupillin wines may also be made from Chardonnay, Savagnin, Pinot Noir and Trousseau, the light-red Poulsard (or Ploussard as it is known here) is the dominant grape. Trousseau, a variety which demands high levels of sunshine, capitalizes on the warm, sunny aspect and is used to make varietal wines.
Arbois-Pupillin wine covers a remarkable range of the wine color spectrum, to such an extent that the locals frequently use descriptors like corail (coral) and rubis (ruby) in addition to red, white and rose. This diversity is due in large part to the fact that all 'white' Arbois wines may be made from up to 20% red grapes – and vice-versa. The lightness of the red pigment in Poulsard grapes is used to control the precise color of Arbois-Pupillin 'rose' wines.
The terroir of the Pupillin vineyards is characterized by sunny, south-facing, limestone slopes. The climate is continental, with warm summers and very cold winters – as might be expected at this slightly elevated altitude (1150ft/350m). The local vine training preference is for high trellising, to keep the vines safe from the ground frosts which regularly occur here in early fall. Savagnin grapes are particularly at risk from fall frost, as they remain on the vine until later in the season to achieve the high levels of ripeness required for the production of vin jaune.
