Maison des Joncs

The story of Maison des Joncs is the remarkable story of one woman, Jae Ok Chu. It is a story of how life takes you on unexpected paths, and what determination and a willingness to... Read More

The story of Maison des Joncs is the remarkable story of one woman, Jae Ok Chu. It is a story of how life takes you on unexpected paths, and what determination and a willingness to take risks can lead to.

Jae was born in South Korea in 1980. After completing school she had an array of interesting jobs including working black jack tables at an island casino and a year at Knotts Berry Farm in Orange County. She also worked for a fine wine importer in Seoul and that is when she fell in love with Burgundy and Pinot Noir.

She went to school in Dijon first, then transferred to Beaune to study wine-making. She secured the requisite internship at Domaine d’Eugenie and began learning how to turn grapes into Burgundy. This domaine is owned by Francois Pinault, who also owns Chateau Latour and after her training was complete she was offered a job there.

But she wanted to stay in Burgundy, so she continued at d’Eugenie and in 2017 was finally able to purchase a small amount of fruit to begin making her own wine. That is the birth of Maison des Joncs. She was introduced to the iconic importing team of Becky Wasserman and they agreed to represent here tiny production in the U.S.

Jae’s winemaking is decidedly natural, but perfectly clean too. After the great wines of Burgundy she was inspired next by the likes of Pierre Overnoy and Jean-Francois Ganevat. The wine is made w/out additives or additions, but with extreme care and precision, in Dominique Lafon’s custom crush facility.