2017 DOMAINE DE LA VIEILLE JULIENNE RELEASES
- available now - 

A Châteauneuf-du-Pape Icon 

Domaine de la Vieille Julienne is an icon of the region. It is helmed by the hugely respected vigneron, Jean-Paul Daumen, who took over from his father in 1992 and has since become one of the most revered, inventive and respected producers in France. He is a thoughtful, intelligent and deeply caring vigneron, managing the beautiful estate like a philosopher or poet. Daumen farms 20ha of biodynamic Châteauneuf-du-Pape, with an average vine age of 70 years. Even the Côtes-du-Rhône bottling is a stone's-throw distance from his Châteauneuf-du-Pape vines, so it is no surprise that every wine with the Vieille Julienne label is at the highest level of the appellations.

The 20ha under vine are farmed biodynamically and are in an unbroken estate vineyard. This is fairly unique in the region, where it’s common for a winery to manage vines spread throughout the appellation. For Vieille Julienne, this means you see a distinct and expressive look at the Montredon plateau in particular.

Like many other regions, Châteauneuf-du-Pape tends to produce both “vineyard” wines and “winery” wines. The distinction is over-simplified, but in this case it follows something like this - Domaine de la Vieille Julienne varieties are co-planted, farmed organically, hand-harvested and naturally co-fermented, with no blending in the winery. Grapes are de-stemmed and fermented with a strong ratio of whole bunch. These are pure, unadorned wines that express their site. They are, fully, wines of the vineyard. 

Each year we are immensely proud to release the latest batch of wines from Jean-Paul. From a superb vintage, these wines are amongst the very best to leave France. They will bring instant enjoyment, and will age beautifully in your cellar.

Enjoy, David Fesq

Jean-Paul Daumen, May 2018

20017 Côtes-du-Rhône Lieu-Dit Clavin (available)
"...the 2017 Côtes Du Rhône Lieu-Dit Clavin reveals a deep purple color as well as classic notes of black licorice, blackcurrants, ground pepper, and earth. Medium to full-bodied, with plenty of tannins yet beautiful fruit, it needs 2-4 years of bottle age, but it’s beautiful stuff and I’d wager one of the best Côtes Du Rhône out there" 92 points Jeb Dunnuck

2017 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Trois Sources (available)
"Leading off the three Châteauneuf Du Papes, the 2017 Châteauneuf Du Pape Les Trois Sources comes from more sandy soils just across the road from the estate. It always shares more stylistic similarities with the Réserve and is more opulent, sexy, and fruit loaded compared to the Hauts-Lieux cuvée. This 2017 is spectacular, offering loads of black fruits, black licorice, ground herbs, violets, and some obvious loamy soil and mineral-like aromas and flavors. Full-bodied, expansive, and multi-dimensional, this is another singular wine from Jean-Paul Daumen that tastes like the essence of this stunning terroir." 95 points Jeb Dunnuck

2017 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Hauts-Lieux (available)
"The 2017 Châteauneuf Du Pape Les Hauts-Lieux comes from slightly higher elevation sites and includes more Mourvèdre than the Les Trois Source release. It’s pure, full-bodied, and incredibly structured, with a tight, backward style that’s going to benefit from bottle age. Showing a distinct salty minerality as well as loads of black and blue fruits, it reminds me of the 2015 yet with more elegance. Hide bottles for 4-5 years and enjoy over the following two decades". 96+ points Jeb Dunnuck 

2017 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve (sold out)
"My wine of the vintage is the 2017 Châteauneuf Du Pape Reserve, which is in the same league as the other greats from this estate including the 2001, 2003, 2005, 2010, and 2016. Revealing a deep purple color as well as a massive bouquet of crème de cassis, violets, graphite, black licorice, and hints of pepper garrigue, it hits the palate with a massive array of fruit, full-bodied richness, no hard edges, and enough sweet tannins to warrant another 5-7 years of bottle age. Based all on very old vine Grenache from sandy soils just across the street from the domaine (the Trois Source has a large portion of its blend from a similar terroir), brought up all in foudre, it’s a singular, heavenly wine from Jean-Paul Daumen that’s going to go down as one of the greats from Châteauneuf du Pape". 100 points Jeb Dunnuck