Velleminfroy

Velleminfroy is a village of 310 souls almost equidistant between Dijon and Mulhouse, in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Known as Le Paradis Vert, this is an unspoilt and especially verdant corner of France owing to the prevalence of natural springs here.  

The spring at Velleminfroy was discovered in 1828 by one Dr Jacquez, who began prescribing the water for its health-giving properties. In 1859, it was enshrined as a source of natural mineral water by Napoleon III’s Académie Impériale de Médecine. Drilling took place to increase the spring’s output and Velleminfroy, for a brief time, became a popular destination for tourists from across Europe. 

Scientific studies in the 1930s would confirm the remarkably high mineral content of the water, yet by the 1960s, Velleminfroy’s spring had been all but abandoned. It was reborn in 2004 when the extraction and bottling facilities were purchased by local entrepreneur Paul Poulaillon.  

In the years since, Velleminfroy, with its striking labels based on a historic design, has become a staple at many of France’s finest restaurants, notably in Burgundy, where it first came to our attention (in restaurants including L’Expression, in Beaune, and Saint-Amour's Joséphine à Table). Delicately saline, it’s a food and wine-friendly water, bottled both still and sparkling, with bubbles that are lively and persistent but not aggressive.  

What’s more, Dr Jacquez was absolutely right. Velleminfroy has among the highest concentration of calcium and magnesium of any French mineral water. It is also low in sodium and high in sulphates which aid digestion.  

Velleminfroy – pronounced “vell-a-man-fwa" – is available now, in both glass and PET plastic bottles, exclusively from Flint in the UK.