About Vieille Julienne

Over the last decade, Jean-Paul Daumen, proprietor/winemaker at Domaine de la Vieille Julienne, has emerged as one of France’s most compelling wine producers. He is a driven man that will sacrifice anything for quality in his wines. For example, in the rain-soaked 2002 vintage he harvested only 50% of the crop, and then rejected half of that. One-fourth of a crop does not make economic sense, but Jean-Paul has his eye on a much longer-term goal. All his wines are labours of love.

Jean-Paul farms 10 hectares in Northern Châteauneuf-du-Pape and 5 hectares in Côtes du Rhône “lieu-dit Clavin” for Vieille Julienne, including the ancient vines his family planted at the turn of the century– all biodynamically. Daumen’s winemaking philosophies are remarkably simple – old vines, tiny yields of around 20 hectoliters per hectare, no SO2 during vinification, aging in neutral tanks or wood, and bottling without fining or filtration — and they combine to give Vieille Julienne’s wines their distinctive character.