la Vieille Julienne Les Trois Sources 2018

A Brief History of Domaine de la Vieille Julienne

On the heights of "lieu-dit Clavin" and at the northern limit of  Chateauneuf du Pape, the estate was born in the 17th century.

Today, this old vines vineyard’s of 20 hectares (50 acres), in one single bloc, shares out between red Châteauneuf du Pape "Les Trois Sources », red Châteauneuf du Pape "Les Hauts-lieux" and red and white Côtes du Rhône "lieu-dit Clavin".

The north facing terroir of slopes and its microclimate gives to this unique location a special ability, remaining very well adapted to the extreme current climatic conditions of the southern Rhône Valley and producing singular, harmonious and balanced wines.

​From generation to generation, terroirs are benefiting from the greatest respect and the vigneron, who remains attentive and sensitive, perpetuates the good practices and the "good sense of the farmer".

Les Trois Sources comes from the domaine’s sandy soil parcels, which impart a silky elegance to the typically powerful fruit profile of Grenache, the lead variety. The wine also contains Syrah, Counoise, Cinsault, Mourvèdre and others.

Harvests entirely done by hands allow a first selection in the vineyard and a second selection when the grapes (transported in small boxes), arrive at the winery.

The vinification continues to be traditional and the fermentation is natural, without any addition. The priceless natural yeasts located in the pruine (berry), reveals both singularity of each terroirs and single expression for each vintage.

Following a long and slow fermentation, wines are drained away in foudre (large oak barrels). Then, after 18 months aging, the bottling is done without fining and filtering. 

(Copyright: Domaine de la Vieille Julienne)

"True to form, the 2018 Châteauneuf Du Pape Les Trois Sources is a softer, more elegant wine than the Les Hauts-Lieux and offers a gorgeous perfume of black cherries, black licorice, tapenade, violets, herbes de Provence, and jus de viande. Deep, full-bodied, and beautifully layered, it gains weight with time in the glass and is going to benefit from just short-term cellaring. It doesn’t have the concentration for any long-term cellaring yet my money is on it evolving nicely for a solid 10-12 years." - Jeb Dunnuck, Jebdunnuck.com, Rating: 95, Drink: 2020-2032