Domaine de la Vieille Julienne

Domaine de la Vieille Julienne is headed by Jean-Paul Daumen. The property has been in his family since 1905. However, the estate dates back to the 17th Century. At first, like many small producers in the Southern Rhone Valley, the Daumen family harvested the fruit and sold it to negociants who bottled and sold the wine under various names. In the late 1960s, Maxine Daumen began bottling the wines himself.

In 1990, Jean-Paul Daumen, following in his family’s footsteps, started working at Domaine Vieille Julienne. Further continuing the legacy, Jean-Paul’s son, Antoine Daumen, is being trained to eventually take over the estate.

Domaine de la Vieille Julienne straddles the appellations of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Côtes du Rhône in the Southern Rhône. The estate is located just three miles east of the Rhone and 70 miles northwest of the Mediterranean port of Marseille.

Jean-Paul is a perfectionist and practices biodynamic farming, both to respect the environment and to produce wines that reflect every nuance of the perfect sandy, rock-strewn terroir. He seeks low yields within the estate’s 20 hectares (50 acres) of vines, which lie in a single, north-facing block.

Traditional grape varieties of the region (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Counoise, and Cinsault) are field-blended and not separated by variety. Harvesting is entirely by hand, allowing a first and second selection. The vines are an average of 60 years old, with some Grenache vines that are over 100.

All grapes are co-fermented and aging takes place in a combination of foudres and old, oak barrels. Vinification is traditional and fermentation is natural, without any additions. Wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered.