DOMAINE DU PELICAN
Domaine du Pélican is a highly regarded Jura estate based in Montigny-lès-Arsures, within the Arbois appellation. Founded in 2012 by Guillaume d’Angerville, proprietor of the celebrated Domaine Marquis d’Angerville in Volnay, the domaine brings Burgundian precision together with the distinctive grape varieties, soils and traditions of the Jura. Today, Domaine du Pélican farms approximately 15 hectares in Arbois.
The story began when Guillaume d’Angerville tasted an exceptional Arbois Chardonnay blind in 2007. Impressed by its quality and personality, he began searching the Jura for vineyards capable of producing wines with the same sense of place he valued in Burgundy. Working alongside longtime collaborator François Duvivier and Jura geologist Yves Hérody, he eventually established Domaine du Pélican five years later.
The domaine was assembled from three important vineyard holdings. Its first acquisitions included Château de Chavanes at Montigny-lès-Arsures and approximately five hectares of Grand Curoulet in Arbois. A defining moment followed when legendary Jura vigneron Jacques Puffeney, often called the “Pope of Arbois”, entrusted his vineyards to Domaine du Pélican after the 2014 harvest. Those approximately five hectares were ultimately acquired by the domaine in 2018.
Domaine du Pélican works with all five traditional Jura grape varieties: Chardonnay, Savagnin, Pinot Noir, Trousseau and Poulsard. Its diverse range therefore captures both the familiar and distinctly regional sides of Arbois, from mineral Chardonnay and Savagnin to delicate Pinot Noir and the indigenous red varieties Trousseau and Poulsard.
The white wines are particularly important to the domaine. Chardonnay can deliver citrus, orchard fruit and mineral characters with tension and precision, while Savagnin provides greater spice, structure and unmistakable Jura personality. The domaine produces both ouillé wines, where barrels are topped up to prevent oxidative development, and traditional oxidative styles, including Savagnin Sous Voile and Vin Jaune.
Its red wines offer another perspective on Arbois. Pinot Noir, Trousseau and Poulsard are bottled individually as well as combined in the domaine's Trois Cépages cuvée. Depending on variety and vineyard, these wines can show red cherry, wild berries, floral notes, spice and earthy complexity, generally framed by freshness and fine structure. Current single-site bottlings include Clos Saint Laurent Pinot Noir and Béranger Trousseau.
Viticulture is fundamental to the Domaine du Pélican philosophy. The vineyards are farmed biodynamically, with moderate yields and careful handling of the fruit. In the cellar, gravity-fed reception, sorting and gentle processing are used alongside traditional maturation in barrels and larger wooden vessels. The aim is to produce wines defined by purity, energy and transparent expression of terroir.
In 2020, the domaine completed a new winery within Clos Saint Laurent at Montigny-lès-Arsures. Designed to integrate into the landscape, the facility is described by the estate as nearly carbon neutral. In 2024, Margot d’Angerville joined her father Guillaume in the management of both family domaines, marking the beginning of a new generation.
Domaine du Pélican has quickly become an important reference for contemporary Arbois and Jura wine, combining the experience of the d’Angerville family with historic Jura vineyards and biodynamic farming. Its diverse collection of Chardonnay, Savagnin, Pinot Noir, Trousseau and Poulsard offers a compelling introduction to both the traditional and modern faces of this distinctive French wine region.
Shop Domaine du Pélican wines online at Wine More Cellars Australia. Discover biodynamic Arbois Chardonnay, Savagnin and Jura red wines with Australia-wide shipping.
