The wines of Châteauneuf-du-Pape often inspire those who chase big flavor and big alcohol. But, as in any region, there are the illustrious outliers. The grand outlier of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, of course, is Château Rayas, whose Burgundy-esque wines turn the southern Rhône’s hot climate upside-down and convince us that Grenache can be just as transparent, perfumed, and thought-provoking as Pinot Noir.
Also obsessed with chasing balance over horsepower is Domaine de la Vieille Julienne, one of Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s best-kept secrets (and best values). Today’s offer, the tiny-production “Trois Sources” bottling, is a wine that erases the dividing line between power and elegance—it is tellingly Grenache with its lavish red and black fruits, yet glides with wispy florals and spice, like a great Burgundy or Côte-Rôtie. If Rayas is the Holy Grail within this ‘sub-category’ of Châteauneuf, La Vieille Julienne gets you tantalizingly close at a fraction of the price—in short, the kind of wine we’re always on the lookout for here at SommSelect. It already has some bottle age and is poised for further evolution in the years ahead, making its price seem all the more modest, and we can offer up to six bottles per customer today until our stock runs out. Run, don’t walk!
The classic “cliff note” of Châteauneuf-du-Pape soils is galets roulés, or round stones, once deposited by ancient Alpine glaciers, smoothed and shined by time and the rushing waters of the Rhône river. But the terroir of Châteauneuf-du-Pape is more complex than textbook river stones; it is an organized chaos of soil types combined with twists of aspect, giving life to a legendary assortment of grapes and wine styles. The appellation is about 8.5 miles long and five miles wide, similar to the shape of an imperfect pumpkin (tilted on its side), crammed with more than 125 lieux-dits (named vineyards) belonging to five different communes. If you roll the dice on Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s map, you might land on a vineyard covered with galets or roll into a corner with lighter sands, gravel, clay, or even limestone.
Domaine de la Vieille Julienne is in the commune of Orange, in the cooler, northwestern side of the appellation or towards the pumpkin’s “stem.” Their terroir is less galets and more sand, mixed with gravel and iron-rich clay. Two of the region’s elite producers, Domaine de Marcoux and Domaine de Ferrand, also reside here. This is an area where Grenache shows off its deeply pretty side, chock-full of red and black fruits and rosy spice. The face behind Domaine de la Vieille Julienne is fifth-generation vigneron Jean-Paul Daumen, who, in a push towards sustainability, abandoned the use of herbicides, fungicides, and chemical products in the early 1990s (when he took over management of his family’s domaine). His embrace of biodynamic farming has very clearly had an impact on the quality of the wines, which radiate energy and purity.
And while I cannot overemphasize the beauty of pure Grenache, today’s wine represents the classic winemaking style of Châteauneuf-du-Pape: blending! Super old-vine Grenache (80+ years) accounts for three-quarters of the wine, then Syrah, Counoise, and Cinsault do their part, contributing attractive savory tones and structural bandwidth. Biodynamically farmed grapes are de-stemmed and naturally fermented in traditional concrete vats with occasional ‘pump-overs’ and movement to extract flavor and color. Aging is old-school: large old barrels, followed by a layover in concrete, and bottled unfined/unfiltered to keep in all the good stuff!
Be it Burgundy or Bordeaux stems, Grenache can go either way, but Jean-Paul Daumen masters the sneaky soft side of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, so give yourself an advantage to his trickery by opting for a Burgundy stem and serving a touch over 60 degrees. In the glass, a generous ruby core flashes with soft crimson-ruby and stretches to a lighter rim. The wine is moderate in concentration but deluxe in aroma: sweet and sour cherry, red and black raspberries, licorice, earth, dusty rose into black pepper, and petrichor. On the palate, the wine hangs with medium-plus texture then glides like a Pinot Noir. Tannin and acid pedal in tandem, giving it a very long, complex finish. On the tannin scale, Grenache leans towards the middle, befriending the world of medium fatty meats like short ribs, hamburger patties, and pork roasts. The attached recipe for garlic-braised short ribs calls for two cups of dry red wine: Elevate the dish by using an affordable Grenache-based Côtes-du-Rhône and place today’s Châteauneuf-du-Pape alongside the plate!
