Grenache is at Its Best When It Steps Softly Retrospective of Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s Domaine de La Vieille Julienne Vindicates Their Traditionalist Approach 5-Bottle Sampler Pack for $299

Join Us for Saturday Sips: Domaine de La Vieille Julienne All-Day Tasting

Come as you are; come any time that’s convenient for you during our business hours to sample selection from this week’s selections. Our staff will be on hand to discuss nuances of the wines, the terroirs reflected, and the producer.

Un-Châteauneuf Châteauneuf: Reconsidering Grenache in the Northwestern Cooler, Sandy Part of the Appellation

When a Châteauneuf vigneron decides that modernity has run its course and recognizes that less may actually be more—that the fresher-tasting wines of their grandparents better reflected terroir—changing their winemaking habits may be easier said than done.

The trend toward super-ripe expressions is fairly modern as a concept, and is nowhere more evident than in Southern Rhône’s treatment of Grenache, the workhorse grape of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Longer hang times in a warming climate saw this varietal pack in natural sugar, leading to ultimate overkill alcohol-by-volumes of up to 17%. But to rein in this style and return to the wiser wines of the past requires a commitment to an altered mindset both in the cellar in the vineyard. And it takes time. Whereas earlier picking, whole-cluster fermentation and aging in concrete rather than oak can be an easy-enough conversion, vineyards also require attention. Cover crops must be planted and vines repruned to promote more vegetal growth to slow ripening—a process that can take five years.

This week we will take a look at Domaine de La Vieille Julienne, whose position in the northwestern corner of Châteauneuf-du-Pape enjoys, besides the dedication of Jean-Paul Daumen, a slightly cooler climate that tends to produce this style of wine naturally.

Stones Vs. Sand

When Mr. Sandman delivers his own dream in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, it is that the legendary galets roulés—the rolled quartzite pebbles of Southern Rhône that have long helped ripen grapes by absorbing heat from daytime sunshine and then releasing it overnight—would fall from grace in favor of his own handiwork: Sand.

Untrained Old Vines Grenache Bush in Galets Roulés

Grès Rouge, Sand and Safre

Enter climate change and warming weather that does not need this prodigious nighttime nudge quite so much. And it turns out that the vines of Châteauneuf grown in sandy soils produce wines that are fresher, more subtle, and in ways, more ‘Burgundian.’

Not only that, but Grenache—CdP’s star actor—actually prefers sandier soil. And unlike galets roulés, sand can be found throughout the appellation, appearing in pockets from the far north and all the way to the south.

Mature Châteauneuf-du-Pape: Time Capsules

We can agree that mature Châteauneuf-du-Pape is one of the most sophisticated pleasures a genuine connoisseur can experience, and it may be equally said that the age of the contributing vines is fundamental to producing truly age-worthy Châteauneufs. This is because older vines produce smaller, more concentrated fruit while deeper root systems enhance terroir-specific minerality. In context, three things are working in favor of Grenache, Châteauneuf’s mainstay. It is a grape that is imminently capable of great nuances with bottle time; also, southern France is home to many of the world’s oldest Grenache vines, and lastly, it makes the best of poor soils and extremely arid climates, and the World Conference on Climate Change and Wine referred to Grenache as “arguably the most environmentally friendly grape in the world and prepared for climate change.”

You will generally pay a pretty high tariff for well-aged Châteauneuf-du-Pape, especially if it has a pedigreed history of ownership. I think you’ll find that the older vintage Châteauneufs in this package are among the most reasonably priced wines, given their provenance, that can be found.

Domaine de La Vieille Julienne

In Châteauneuf-due-Pape’s extreme northern end (only ten feet from Côtes du Rhône—this is not a typo), a single fifty-acre vineyard plot has been producing superlative wines for over three hundred years.

Jean-Paul Daumen, who took over from his father in 1992, has worked diligently to keep the legacy of La Vieille Julienne alive, embracing historical precedent while nudging the domain’s viniculture into the 21st century.

Jean-Paul Daumen, Domaine de La Vieille Julienne

“I began to change my methods of vinification and blending in 2010,” he says, “moving away from blending in the winery and putting the whole of my focus on balanced field blends in the vineyard; the process of blending is now on a parcel by parcel basis, and not based on a grape variety choice. Low yields are a priority at Vieille Julienne, and holding them below 20 hectoliter per hectare leads to power, purity and concentration.”

Domaine de La Vieille Julienne

Daumen’s precise methodology is aimed at producing ‘vineyard wine of immense concentration, with little winery influence.’ He destems before co-fermentation and aging takes place in a combination of foudres and old oak barrels. His vines average over 60 years in age while the parcels of Grenache that go into his Réservé bottling of Châteauneuf-du-Pape are over a hundred, making these wines benchmarks of the appellation. Daumen will not release his CdPs until they are approaching their peak, so that they often come onto the market years after most other Châteauneuf-du-Papes have come and gone.

In addition to his Vieille Julienne label, Jean-Paul is also making wines under his biodynamic label ‘Daumen,’ wines intended to be more accessible when young without losing any of his customary complexity.

Vintage 2018: More Densely Concentrated Than Typical

Châteauneuf-du-Pape is an aggressively blended cornucopia; the reality of permitting so many grape varieties in a wine that a given vintage may favor one grape at the expense of others.

Most vintage reports focus on Grenache, the variety upon which CdP has (historically) staked its reputation, but the trend in local vintages has been a changing climate which more and more frequently interrupts the early-budding Grenache with frost and later, with excessive springtime rain, leading to a greater percentage of Syrah and Mourvèdre to represent the mix. Such wines tend to be lower in alcohol with a flavor profile leaning toward darker fruits and earthy minerality, so if that is the style of Châteauneuf-du-Pape you prefer, 2018 was your ideal vintage. Heavy rains in May and June caused a poor fruit set for Grenache and many growers reported a 40%-60% reduction; Syrah and Mourvèdre fared better and are pronounced in the cuvées.

 1  Domaine de La Vieille Julienne ‘Lieu-dit Clavin’, 2018 Côtes-du-Rhône Rouge ($23)
The lieu-dit ‘Clavin’ is a 14-acre vineyard on the far side of the road, just beyond the CdP delineation, making it an almost unfathomably great value for this style of wine since Daumen treats its production with the identical techniques and respect that he shows to his classified grapes. Clavin terroir is clay and red sand; the vines are 85 years old. The wine shows lavender and licorice lightly touching red plum, currant and strawberry.

 2  Domaine de La Vieille Julienne ‘Trois Sources’, 2018 Châteauneuf-du-Pape ($61)
From the precocious lieux-dits Maucoil and Bois Lauzon, where the terroir is made of unique, fine-grained safre sand along with clay and gravel; in this environment, the grapes mature earlier. Located on a flatter ground between Clavin and Les Hauts-Lieux, the Trois Sources terroir mosaic of terroir is particularly suited to Grenache—most of the vines are 75 years old. The wine shows lush aromatics of blackberries, black raspberries, peppery garrigue and herbes de Provence with satiny tannins and a solid spine of acidity.

 3  Domaine de La Vieille Julienne ‘Hauts Lieux’, 2018 Châteauneuf-du-Pape ($86)
70% Grenache, 20% Mourvèdre, 5% Counoise and 5% Cinsault grown on the limestone and quartz soil in the Mont-Redon lieu-dit. The ‘high place’ lies in a sheltered part of Daumen’s slope, where marl soils and shallower safre is covered with quartzite pebbles, making it especially friendly to Mourvèdre. The wine shows pure black currant, licorice, violets, and some salty minerality behind pure, polished tannins.

Vintage 2017: Year of the Grenache

Despite being known for its myriad permitted varieties, in reality, the performance of Grenache largely defines the reputation of a Châteauneuf-du-Pape vintage.

2017 began with frost at the end of April, followed by a dry summer. This impacted Grenache more than other varieties since it buds earlier. Then in May, the region was hit with inclement weather, further reducing the Grenache yields. Some of our growers reported a greater yield reduction in 2017 than in 2018 in the range of 25-50%. Luckily summer was hot and dry, allowing the crop to ripen uniformly with a long harvesting period at a leisurely pace. So beneficial was this warmer period later in the season that the remaining Grenache was quite healthy; Didier Negron observed that this vintage was like a more concentrated 2014.

 4  Domaine de La Vieille Julienne ‘Trois Sources’, 2017 Châteauneuf-du-Pape ($58)
From the flatter ground between Clavin and Les Hauts-Lieux, the Trois Sources’ mosaic of safre sand and red clay is particularly suited to Grenache. The wine shows gorgeous raspberry ganache and cassis that glides over grilled herb, mineral and tar with an authoritative finish.

 5  Domaine de La Vieille Julienne ‘Hauts Lieux’, 2017 Châteauneuf-du-Pape ($71)
The ‘high place’ lies in a sheltered part of Daumen’s slope; the wine is beginning to show tertiary flavors of leather and earth behind mineral-accented aromas of baked cherry and incense that has picked up toasted earth elements over a sour cherry core. Precise in the mouth with intense red fruit liqueur.
 

Cuvée Réservé: Singular

Says Jean-Paul Daumen: “In mid-August, when the vineyard is deserted, I like to walk through the vines on the Trois Sources slope, observe their expressions, taste the berries. At that time, I have to be receptive and appreciate all the details that make, in the context of certain vintages, vines show particular expressions. In this case only, these century-old vines of Grenache (90%), but also of Syrah, Cinsault and Counoise will be identified and vinified separately to produce the Réservé.”

Domaine de La Vieille Julienne ‘Réservé’, 2018 Châteauneuf-du-Pape ($257)
From a single terroir closest to the Les Trois Sources; a tiny production cuvée that in 2018 shows the more elegant, seamless style of the vintage and has a gorgeous bouquet of cassis, blueberries, crushed violets, smoked game, ground pepper, and black licorice.

Domaine de La Vieille Julienne ‘Réservé’, 2017 Châteauneuf-du-Pape ($257)
Daumen was able to weave the concentrated vintage into a complex tapestry of ripe fruit, spice and peppery garrigue with a velvety texture and a long, gripping finish.

Domaine de La Vieille Julienne ‘Réservé’, 2015 Châteauneuf-du-Pape ($257)
90% Grenache, 5% Syrah and 5% Mourvèdre; the wealth of fruit is mellowing into perfect tertiary balance; with no loss of detail, the wine shows straw, licorice root and cigar leaf with notes of black cherry and coastal herbs with an integrated, silken tannin backbone.

Vintage 2015: Rich, Ripe and Full of Powerful Fruit

Although the Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s 2015 vintage was slightly challenging for the slow-ripening Grenache, talented winemakers rose to the occasion by producing wines with superior tannins and ripe fruit if slightly higher levels of alcohol.

In early September, the entire Rhône Valley saw heavy rain, which favored the vines planted on free-draining sand and resulted in fresh fruit-forward flavors and expressive minerality. The best domains produced age-worthy wines with complex flavors and sumptuous textures.

Notebook …

Traditional and Modern Styles

Throughout much of its history, CdP provided a leathery foil to the potent and somewhat austere elegance of Bordeaux and the heady sensuousness of Burgundy. CdP is ‘southern wine’, filled with rustic complexity—brawny, earthy and beautiful. But as a business, all wine finds itself beholden to trends, since moving product is necessary to remain afloat. During the Dark Ages (roughly1990 through 2010—in part influenced by the preferences of powerful critic Robert Parker Jr.) much of Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s output became bandwagon wines, jammy and alcoholic, lacking structure and tannin, in the process becoming more polished than rustic and more lush than nuanced. For some, this was delightful; for others, it was a betrayal of heritage and terroir.

These days, a new generation of winemakers seem to have identified the problem and corrected it. Recent vintages have seen the re-emergence of the classic, balanced style Châteauneuf-du-Pape, albeit at slightly higher prices. A changing climate has also altered traditional blends, so that more Mourvèdre may be found in cuvées that were once nearly all Grenache. Mourvèdre tends to have less sugar and so, produces wine that is less alcoholic and jammy, adding back some of the herbal qualities once so highly prized in the appellation. But a return to old school technique has also helped; however, many of the wines in this offer were destemmed prior to crushing and were fermented on native yeast rather than cultured yeast.

Vineyard Management and Grape Varieties

In 1936, the Institut National des Appellations l’Origine officially created the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation, with laws and rules that growers and vignerons were required to follow. It was agreed that the appellation would be created based primarily on terroir (and to a lesser extent, on geography) and includes vines planted in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and some areas of Orange, Court In 1936, the Institut National des Appellations l’Origine officially created the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation, with laws and rules that growers and vignerons were required to follow. It was agreed that the appellation would be created based primarily on terroir (and to a lesser extent, on geography) and includes vines planted in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and some areas of Orange, Courthézon, Sorgues and Bédarrides. 15 grape varieties are allowed in the appellation: Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Terret Noir, Counoise, Muscardin, Vaccarèse, Picardan, Cinsault, Clairette, Roussanne, Bourboulenc, Picpoul Noir, Grenache Blanc and Picpoul Blanc. Vine density must not be less than 2,500 vines per hectare and cannot exceed 3,000 vines per hectare. Vines must be at least 4 years of age to be included in the wine. Machine harvesting is not allowed in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, so all growers must harvest 100% of their fruit by hand.

Beyond that, vines are allowed to be irrigated no more than twice a year. However, irrigation is only allowed when a vintage is clearly suffering due to a severe drought. If a property wishes to irrigate due to drought, they must apply for permission from the INAO, and any watering must take place before August 15.

Weather and Climate

Located within the Vaucluse department, Châteauneuf-du-Pape has a Mediterranean climate—the type found throughout much of France’s south—and characterized by hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. It rarely snows at sea level (as opposed to the surrounding mountains, where snowfall may be considerable).

As the equal of elevation and rainfall, a third defining feature of the climate in Southern France is the wind. In a land dominated by hills and valleys, it is always windy—so much so that in Provence, there are names for 32 individual winds that blow at various times of year, and from a multitude of directions. The easterly levant brings humidity from the Mediterranean while the southerly marin is a wet and cloudy wind from the Gulf. The mistral winds are the fiercest of all and may bring wind speeds exceeding 60 mph. This phenomenon, blowing in from the northeast, dries the air and disperses the clouds, eliminating viruses and excessive water after a rainfall, which prevents fungal diseases.

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Posted on 2024.12.05 in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côtes-du-Rhône, France, Wine-Aid Packages, Southern Rhone