Monday, July 22, 2019

Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe. Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe. Châteauneuf-du-Pape

One of the highlights of our trip to Provence and Chateauneuf-du-Pape was a visit to Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe. Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the most renowned wine producing area in the Southern Rhône River Valley.   

We blogged a few weeks ago in our preparation for the trip and and our visit, tasting Vieux Télégraphe La Crau Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape Télégramme 2015.

This was a return visit for me as I visited Vieux Télégraphe during my tour to Châteauneuf-du-Pape back in 1998

Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe is a leading producer in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and their flagship and signature label La Crau is one of the most celebrated grand cru of the southern Rhône. 

All wines produced by Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe are estate wines, sourced from grapes grown on Domaine land and vineyards.  The main estate vineyards are on the plateau above the Rhone River valley known as La Crau, the highest vineyard site in the appellation. The vines dates back over a hundred years with an average age of 60 years old.

The broad portfolio of wines of Vieux Télégraphe each reflect the terroir of the diversity of the Domaine sites from across the region from where the grapes are sourced. The premier site of the cru La Crau label boasts the unique signature rough rocky terrain with pebble predominant soil left behind from the Alpine glaciers that formed the Rhône Valley. 

The galets roulés, or rounded stones, (shown on display in the tasting room) allow for extraordinary drainage for the roots and also retain heat from the day’s sun so as to continue ripening the fruit during the night. This results in classic wines from grapes grown on the site that manifest vibrant fruit with depth, concentration, and filtered-through-stones minerality that provides excellent freshness.

The proximity of the high altitude also subjects the site to the elements — rain, hail, brilliant sunshine, and the legendary and notorious Mistral winds that rush up the Rhone valley from the south. The result is that the Mistral also work to prevent rot in the grapes. The Mistral winds also cause the viticulture practice in the Southern Rhone of cropping the vines closer to the ground.

Arguably one of the best wines sourced from one of the best vineyards in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Télégraphe has earned a reputation for consistency, producing smooth, complex and sophisticated yet approachable, enjoyable wines in the region known for strength, rusticity, earthiness, and tremendous longevity. 

We hold numerous vintages of Télégraphe wine in our cellar and have enjoyed vintages dating back to the late seventies the 1978, and the early eighties including 1981, ‘82, ‘83, ‘85 and ‘86 releases. 

The recent 2015 vintage of the flagship cru La Crau was awarded 96 points by James Suckling, 95 points by Wine Spectator, 94 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and Vinous, and 93 points by Jeb Dunnuck. The most recent 2016 vintage was awarded 98 points by James Suckling, 96 points by Wine Spectator, and 93-95 points Vinous.

We were honored to be hosted by Daniel Brunier, owner, proprietor and winemaker. He and his brother Frédéric are fourth generation caretakers of the property that has been in the family since 1891. 

The vineyard was first planted upon the La Crau plateau and the Domaine was established in 1898 by their great-grandfather, Hippolyte Brunier. 

Hippolyte Brunier was a modest farmer who lived off the land and maintained a couple acres of vines to make his own wines. The small vineyard was at one of the highest points in between Châteauneuf-du-Pape and the nearby village of Bédarrides, so the site was thereby selected for the construction of a communication tower in the late 18th century to transmit telegraph messages between Marseille and Paris, hence the name Vieux Telegraph.  

Hippolyte produced wines from the site that were highly regarded and he continued to increase his vineyard plantings to forty acres. He was joined by his sons working the vineyards and farm, and was eventually joined by his grandson, Henri. In time, Henri eventually replanted the vineyards, constructed a new winery and brought technical innovations such as temperature controls to the winery to protect the wines during fermentation. Henri released the Domaine’s first branded label bottlings under the Vieux Télégraphe label. 

The renowned wine merchant distributor Kermit Lynch met Henri and his wife, Maguey, in the mid-seventies and they formed a collaborative venture Domaine Les Pallières. Henri began to filter the wine around 1980 but Kermit suggested that the blend remain unfiltered. After tasting the results of several vintages, the Bruniers returned to an unfiltered bottling for their entire production, a practice that remains to this day. 

Henri retired in 1988 when management and oversight of the Domaine was taken over by his two sons, Daniel and Frédéric. They worked to significantly expand the family’s holdings on La Crau to one hundred-seventy acres and expanded and upgraded the winemaking operations and facilities significantly. The nearly 170 vineyard acres are planted with Chateauneuf-du-Pape sanctioned varietals of Grenache (65%), Syrah (15%), Mourvédre (15%), and Cinsault (5%).

It was a pleasure meeting and being hosted by Daniel Brunier, fourth generation caretaker of the property. He is an astute and consummate professional in the business that is also his passion for the family brand and fine wine. He was generous of his time but diligent and judicious to understand our objectives for the visit and our time together. 

Daniel is the public face of the brand as well as the business manager so he is accustomed to courting the press, analysts and critics who can have such a substantial impact on a label, brand and vintage release of a wine. He also can speak to the most precise details of the viticulture, winemaking and all aspects of the business.

He shared the history of the Domaine, their philosophy and strategy for producing optimal wines that reflect the terroir of their individual sites across the region. He showed us the new production facility that was expanded in 2006. This accommodates the increased production from the additional Domaine vineyards added in Chateuneuf-du-Pape and vineyards in Gigondas. He emphasized that all the fruit is estate grown, that they purchase “not one kilo, not one liter” for their production. He stressed the importance of the technology and facilities that provide for gravity fed production processes avoiding pumps which might otherwise agitate the grapes.

Alain spoke with pride, passion, authority and confidence on the accomplishments of the domaine, and the care and attention to detail in every respect, and how that manifests in consistency of the brand, even in challenging vintages. He described how in 2002, Vieux Télégraphe released their second label known as Télégramme, produced from grapes from the younger but still over twenty year old vines. 

The challenged 2002 vintage experienced torrential rains and flooding around harvest time prompting the Bruniers to downgrade “La Crau” to the subsequent label to be christened “Télégramme,” The popularity and success of the label prompted Daniel and Frédéric to produce the cuvée yearly from fruit they deem suitable, but not worthy of the “La Crau” flagship label.

Télégramme provides an approachable wine that is ready to drink when young, at a more moderate price-point, ideal for restaurants, younger wine drinkers developing their knowledge and pallet for fine wines, for those exploring the offerings of Châteauneuf-du-Pape without investing in the premier cru’s, and for wine lovers who do not have a cellar for aging. 

Télégramme is elegant, complex and sophisticated yet smooth and enjoyable with bright vibrant fruit, freshness, and approachable nicely integrated tannins. 

Les Vieux Télégraphe has grown from 90 acres in the mid-1970s to 170 acres with the acquisition of another Châteauneuf estate, Domaine la Roquète, which is run by Daniel’s brother Frédéric, and an estate in Gigondas. 

When acquired in 1986, Domaine la Roquète was planted with relatively young vines, but as they matured, the wines have gained in quality with more depth, richness, concentration and complexity.

In 2004, the L’Accent de la Roquète label was added with 90% Grenache and 10% Mourvèdre fruit sourced from the two Lieu Dits of Pialons and Pignan. This produced purity, elegance and a wonderful fruit profile that was a distinctive counterpoint to the earthy and masculine Vieux Télégraphe. Since 2011, there has been one white and one red wine from Domaine La Roquete, called l’Accent de la Roquete. only about 2,500 cases from the estate’s oldest vines. The balance of the fruit is co-mingled in the blend of Telegramme.

They also acquired and developed Domaine Les Pallières, in a collaborative partnership with the noted merchant exporter (importer to America) Kermit Lynch, in the nearby commune and appellation of Gigondas. 

Domaine Les Pallières was a long standing highly rated and respected property of the Southern Rhone. It was ideally situated outside the village of Gigondas in the foothills of the Dentelles de Montmirail. The domaine had been a continuously operated farm within the same family since the fifteenth century. Les Pallières was a famous domaine with wines of high quality and character but over time, the property fell into disrepair. Two great frosts of the twentieth century killed off many of the olive and fruit trees, and both the winery and the vineyards were badly in need of restoration and upgrading. The former owners, the Roux brothers lacked any successors to take their place so in 1998, they decided to sell. 
 
The vineyards of Domaine les Pallières in Gigondas range from 250-400 meters in altitude, with varying proportions of sand and clay intermixed with layers of limestone descending from the Dentelles. In 2007. the property was divided into two cuvées representing the personalities or terroir of the upper and lower reaches of the property: Cuvée “Les Racines” sourced from the vineyard parcels surrounding the winery — the origin of the domaine with the oldest vines that provides freshness and extravagant fruit, from near the cellars; and "Terrasse du Diable", from higher up where there is more limestone. 

Crafting two different cuvées proved to be brilliant as it reveals dramatic distinctive different characters and tasting profiles that tend to appeal to the different tastes of the younger more neophyte tasters vs more seasoned mature members, which was validated by our group. Alain described to the group the subtleties of the different profiles and how and why they appeal to the different groups. 

A new winery was built to receive the harvested parcels individually in gravity-fed tanks. The many lieux-dits, once blended into one cuvée of Gigondas, have been separated into two, starting with the 2007 vintage, the result being an expression of the two distinctive characters reflecting the diverse terroir of the two levels of the site.  

‘We wanted different characters,’ Daniel explained. ‘The velvet of Racines, as opposed to the freshness and vivacity of Terrasse – wines for different times or occasions.’ 

We tasted both during our visit and were split amongst the group on our preference, the younger set preferring the Racines whilst the older members preferring the Terrasse. 

We were able to find and acquire both labels upon our return in the Chicago marketplace at Binny’s, albeit in limited quantities. Prior to our visit, we would not have realized they were affiliated with or owned by Vieux Telegraph.

Domaine les Pallières also produces a Rose', so popular in the wines of Southern France. Au Petit Bonheur Les Pallières is the only Vin de France produced by the Brunier family in the Rhône Valley. It is a blend of Grenache, Cinsault and Clairette grapes. It is pressed straight after hand picking and then the blend is fermented and matured in oak, in 650-litre demi-muids. It is bottled at the end of the winter after harvesting with slight filtration resulting in a crisp, brilliant appearance, freshness, elegance and fullness of the lieu-dit Les Pallières,

The Brunier brothers have worked hard to maintain the legacy left by their father, Henri, and their great-grandfather, Hippolyte. They have masterfully applied their expertise and tradecraft to produce the best possible wines that represent the diversity of the various terroirs of the southern Rhône through the expansion of their portfolio of properties, and their wines and labels that best represent the vast variation of terroir - soil types, climatic conditions, and grape varieties.

Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant site writes of the Vieux Telegraphe portfolio: “The Bruniers’ vineyards in the La Crau cru of Châteauneuf-du-Pape are the most pedigreed of the appellation, producing wines of exceptional quality and longevity. Since purchasing Domaine La Roquète in 1986, the family has complemented their portfolio with additional wines, offering more affordable cuvées that showcase the diversity of terroirs within their holdings. The “Pigeoulet” and “Mégaphone” are fresh, rich in fruit, pleasantly representative of their terroir, and easy to appreciate young. The red Châteauneuf “Piedlong”, sourced from the famed Piélong lieu-dit with some fruit from the Pignan vineyard as well, is a profoundly mineral wine that balances elegance and purity with the muscle that is commonly found in wines from this great appellation.” 

The Bruniers have also expanded in a joint-venture in Lebanon called Massaya.

Daniel is also a patron of fine art and has introduced art into the winery experience with exhibitions throughout the facility of original contemporary works. Our tour was a veritable art exhibit from the chai to the barrel room to the bottling rooms, the tasting room and the main hall. 

They write in their announcement of the exhibits, “The craft of making wine is in itself an artistic endeavor. To take something raw and coerce it into something beautiful, letting the natural elements speak for themselves, not interfering through manipulation, but through guidance — this is what we strive to do at Vieux Télégraphe. We have a respect for beauty, and for those who want to make the world a more beautiful place. For this reason, we are pleased to announce that we have opened our winery this summer to five local artists that have filled the rooms and halls of our caveau with their creations."

One notable work by local artist Florent Touchot is in the tasting room that features a bottle of the grand cru La Crau CDP. 

The exhibition of art and wine runs from July 1st to September 30th.

We were captivated by the work of Florent Touchot who works in plastic and photography, using raw, urban materials, as well as plexiglass. His works are a technique combining collage, mirouflage, and acrylic with pieces of posters recovered either directly on the walls of Paris and Marseille, or in the subway or flea markets. The three dimensional effects serve to reveal intriguing different images depending on the angle and lighting. His works in the barrel room showcased his contemporary art in three dimensions and multi-media featuring a bottle of Domaine Vieux Telegraphe, a apartment building and the Port of Marseille, the Louve in Paris and our favorite, the famous legendary Flatiron Building in New York. 

We were quite taken by the Flatiron piece since it is in the neighborhood where Alec and Vivianna live and where Alec works. We discussed it at length over lunch prompting us to go back and view it again intent on acquiring it, until we realized on second visit, that we missed a decimal point and it was €28000, not €2800!  

The bright colorful dramatic striking works of Stephane Leberloa showcase the main hall, tasting room and the bottling and production rooms: Having never taken a single art class, Leberloa's paintings are figurative on an abstract basis. 

Bruniers write of his works, “His paintings are spontaneous, not of any particular thought. He does not sketch and generally, his paintings are made of lightening. He does not want to seduce or carry a message. He is just trying to scratch, to write, to mark what he has in him and that we all have in our humanity.”

The barrel room also serves as a sculpture gallery featuring the work of Sourski and Julien Allègre. Sourski works with sandstone or bronze sculptures, false fragility of porcelain arises on steel, the heat of the wood touches a part in bronze. 

Julien Allègre's sculptures bear witness for his admiration of nature. Here metal finds its expressiveness through roughness and oxidation, it is reincarnated and invested with extraordinary vitality. Starting from already formed objects, he frees the material from any functional need. 

Artwork in the Vieux Telegraphe caves.

What a special treat to combine in one visit the artwork of the handicraft of Familie Brunier as well as a group of talented contemporary artists.   

The Vieux Telegraphe exhibition poster.




A visit to Château La Nerthe

A visit to Château La Nerthe, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

During our recent trip to Provence we visited Château La Nerthe, one of the oldest estates in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. This was a return visit to the estate that we visited during our first trip to the region back in 1998. We hold in our cellar or have consumed a dozen vintages of Château La Nerthe dating back to the eighties. We also visited the estate of Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe as the other highlight of our visit to the appellations Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
Sheri, Belle Silvie, Rick - La Nerthe 1998
Alec, Rick, La Nerthe 2019
The Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation is named in recognition of the Popes who reigned in the area in the fourteenth century. It actually means "New Castle of the Pope" referring to the time in the 14th century when the pope resided in Avignon, not in Rome. Historic documents noted grape vines covering the territory of Châteauneuf-du-Pape dating back as early as 1157. 

Geoffroy, the bishop of Avignon, had a vineyard within the territory of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Clement V, the first Avignon Pope recognized the special soils of Châteauneuf-du-Pape in 1314. His successor, John XXII, in 1316, established the summer residence of the papacy in the village of Avignon. He recognized the distinctive terroir of the region for growing wine grapes and granted the wine produced there the rank of "Vin du Pape". He regularly drank the wines from the vineyards ‘in the north’ and did much to improve viticulture practices there. 

Pope John XXII chose what he considered the ideal location for a residence and vineyard site, the hillock overlooking the Rhône Valley about halfway between Avignon and Orange –  Châteauneuf – and he took over the area and constructed the castle there, starting in 1317, and completing it in 1333. He planted grapevines and olive trees in the area.

According to the historic Apostolic Chamber archives, there were more than 3 million grapevines in Châteauneuf in 1334 covering more than 1500 acres.

Pope John XXII, promoted winemaking and production in the area and as a result, production increased to over three thousand liters per year. As the wines of
Châteauneuf gained notoriety from being erved to ambassadors and representatives of foreign courts, they were shipped in barrels to Italy, Germany and Britain. 
 
From the eighteenth century, the visionary winemakers of Chateauneuf-du-Pape were shipping their wine in bottles instead of using barrels, an important new step obtaining brand awareness in other parts of the world.



Château La Nerthe was recorded to be shipping it's wines in bottles as early as 1776, the year of the American Revolution.  The popularity and notoriety of the wines of Châteauneuf-du-Pape continued to spread through the 19th century.
 

In 1929, the Syndicat of Châteauneuf-du-Pape winegrowers assigned three experts to establish “the conditions of territorial origin and faithful, constant, and local traditions concerning the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation”. They issued a report in 1929 after four years of deliberations, and it was ratified. As a result, the Châteauneuf-du-Pape winegrowers became the first in all of France to impose production parameters. Their example was soon followed by many other French vignerons, as more and more regions across France adopted their model, eventually resulting in a nationwide set of appellation regulations.

Under the leadership and legal expertise of Baron Le Roy, the Cour de Cassation (French court of last resort) defined appellation boundaries and production conditions in November 1933. After several years of proceedings, in May, 1936, the decree of the appellation was published and Châteauneuf-du-Pape become the first wine-making Appellation-Origin-Controllee, AOC of France.
 

The appellation rules remain in force today to protect and guarantee the quality of Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines. The regulated vineyards now cover over 7900 acres in the towns of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Bédarrides Courthézon, Orange and Sorgue.

In 1937, the union of the owners of the appellation of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, created an original bottle, the famous bottle with the embossed logo, the crest or crossed keys, that is emblematic of Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines. 

There is a notch in the bottom rim of the CDP glass bottle. I often have fun with this, handing the bottle to someone and challenging them to explain its purpose. Most often, the response is that it somehow relates to the 'racking' or turning of the bottles. Of course, that is not done with red wines, rather is a procedure related to producing and aging sparkling wine or Champagne. Since the bottles of Châteauneuf-du-Pape have the emblem embossed in the glass, it matters where the label is placed on the bottle. Hence, the notch in the bottle allows the bottling and labeling machine to align the label with the glass emblem!

The historic Château La Nerthe estate dates back to 1560. The historic Château was built in 1736. Château La Nerthe was one of the first estates to bottle their own wine beginning as early as 1784. Château La Nerthe was also one of the first, if not the first estate in Châteauneuf-du-Pape to export their wine outside of France. Another first for the estate was that Château La Nerthe began the practice of de-stemming 100% of their vines in the 1800’s. By this point in time, Château La Nerthe was the most expensive wine from the Southern Rhône.

Rick and Linda, Château La Nerthe
In 1870, the Tulle de Villefranche family sold the property to the Joseph Ducos family. The sale was necessary largely due to the devastation of the vineyards by Phylloxera, the louse that attacked the roots of the vines, forcing investing in replanting of the vineyards with new resistant root stock.

The Ducos family maintained ownership of the property until 1941 when Château La Nerthe was bought at an auction by the Leclerc and Motte families. The estate was occupied by the invading German army during the war and the property was severely debilitated. The Germans used the elegant Chateau as a headquarters for the region and the wine cellars served as bomb shelters.
 

By 1985, Château La Nerthe had become dilapidated and was put up for sale by the Dereumaux family. In 1986, the property was acquired by the Richard family in partnership with David and Foillard negociants. A complete renovation of the estate took place and much of the vineyards were replanted. The new owners changed the spelling back to what it was by adding back the “h” that had been dropped earlier. The new labels once again displayed the original spelling of Château La Nerthe.

In 1991, Château La Nerthe expanded their land holdings with the purchase of an additional 54 acres of vineyards, thereby creating one of the largest estates in the Southern Rhône with 222 acres under vine.

The vineyards and the château are located southeast of the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The vines are planted in La Crau, Les Escondudes, La Reves and the La Nerthe lieux-dits (localities). 

The La Nerthe estate has all the terroirs of the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation within the property. The 222 acres of La Nerthe vineyards are located in two single blocks around the castle. 


The exceptional, sloped terroir is the classic legendary soil of the appellation, sandy-clay with the surface covered by a layer of the famous ‘galets roulés’, the large, round, well-worn stones that originated in the Alps and were carried down to the Rhône by the ice age glaciers. These large pebbles store the heat during the day and release it at night aiding the ripening of the grapes. The property also has a natural spring on the grounds, which can be beneficial to the vines during periods of drought which commonly affect the region.


The La Nerthe vineyards are comprised of two large blocks. There is 148 acres of vines adjacent to and in front of the chateau. There, the soil is largely sand and clay in the terroir. The remaining 74 acres are behind the château and abut the plateau of La Crau, which sits behind and above the Chateau, which has more rocks and the stones, known as galets in the region. 

Lane leading up to
Château La Nerthe
estate.
Like some of the other legendary producers in the area such as Château Vieux Telegraph and Château Beaucastel, the vineyards of Château La Nerthe are planted with all 13 types of grapes allowed in the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation. The average vine age is over 40 years old.  

 

While the property has plantings of all 13 of the appellation’s permitted varietals, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah dominate the red blend. The estate has one of the highest proportions of white vines in the region and produces a special white cuvée – Clos de Beauvenir – sourced from grapes from the clos directly in front of the château.

All the viticulture in the Château La Nerthe vineyards is done using organic farming techniques. 

 
Starting with the 2015 vintage, Ralph Garcin, who previously worked for Jaboulet in Hermitage, was appointed general manager and winemaker, placed in charge of the estate and all its winemaking operations. He has set upon an ambitious program of process and technical improvements. He introduced vinification by plot and is investing in smaller fermentation tanks and larger ageing vessels to showcase the quality of the fruit in the cellar. He’s also been making improvements to their viticultural practices, such as introducing organic farming.


Château La Nerthe library collection
Our tour included the historic cellars that are underneath the château, the tank rooms, the barrel storage rooms, and the historic wine library storage cellars. We then were hosted in the hospitality center and served a flight of the recent vintage releases of the wines.  




The wine tasting flight:

We tasted the Château La Nerthe Cuvee-des-Cadettes Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2016. This could be considered their 'flagship' wine, it is the premium label, not made every year, rather, only in the finest vintages. Cuvee-des-Cadeetes is approximately one-third each Grenache, Syrah and Mourvdre. Eighty percent of the wine spends a year in new oak barrels.



The standard flagship label is Château La Nerthe Châteauneuf-du-Pape, 2015, 2016 and 2018, a red blend comprising as many as all thirteen varietals grown 100% on the estate property - 55% Grenache, 17% Syrah, 15% Mourvedre, 7% Cinsault, 3% Counoise and the remaining 3% is a blend of the other varietals planted in the vineyard.

La Nerthe oak barrel storage cellar
The wine is aged in variety of tanks and large barrels depending on the blend and the characteristics of the vintage, typically for 12 to 18 months in tanks, about twenty percent new French Oak barrels, and used French oak barrels. 

Typically it is best consumed after 5 to 8 years of aging, it can easily be held for several decades depending on the vintage, and in top years can hold its prime drinking window for 25 to 35 years. 

Approximately 15,000 cases are produced each year.

La Nerthe Les Cassagnes Cote du Rhone Villages, 2015, a white wine blend comprised of Grenache Blanc / Garnacha Blanca (25%) Roussanne (25%),and the remaining 50% Viognier.

Chateau La Nerthe Clos de Beauvenir 2014, a blend of 60% Roussanne and 40% Clairette. Like Cuvee-des-Cadettes, Clos de Beauvenir is only produced in select vintages. The production is small, fewer than 250 cases of the special white wine in a release year.
Chateau La Nerthe Clos de Beauvenir is made from a blend of 60% Roussanne and 40% Clairette. Clos de Beauvenir is only produced in select vintages. The production is always quite small. The estate never makes over 250 cases of the special white wine.
Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/rhone-wines-cote-rotie-hermitage-chateauneuf-du-pape/chateauneuf-du-pape-wine-producer-profiles/chateau-la-nerthe-chateauneuf-du-pape-rhone-wine/