‘Vieille Julienne’s Réservé is Grenache in excelsis’: Matt Walls on a Châteauneuf stand out

If you ask people to name a powerful, potent and concentrated wine, you can bet that Châteauneuf-du-Pape would be a common call. There’s no doubt that it can be an extreme style, and that’s one reason it has so many admirers.

But playing at the outer reaches of style can be treacherous. Balance and drinkability can be easily lost.

Scroll down for notes and scores for eight vintages of Vieille Julienne’s Réservé

My personal taste has always veered towards more elegant interpretations of Châteauneuf. I was never a fan of the pumped-up, overripe examples from the 1990s.

But there is one bottling that strides beyond the limits of most Grenache-based wines, and does so magnificently: Domaine de la Vieille Julienne’s cuvée Réservé.

Early attempts

I visit the domaine’s owner and winemaker Jean-Paul Daumen in October every year to get his take on the new vintage. I can always rely on him for an intelligent and eloquent read of the season in question.

This year we also tasted through eight vintages of Réservé made between 2012 and 2024.

Daumen joined his father at the family estate in 1992. He soon noticed that some of their oldest Grenache vines within a parcel of their Trois Sources vineyard appeared different – very small, loose bunches and fewer leaves. In 1994, he decided to vinify them separately. Encouraged by the results, he did so again in 1995.

He waited until the renowned 1998 vintage to repeat the experiment a third time. Despite a glorious growing season, it was less successful.

‘In the 1990s, for many producers the goal was to get very overripe grapes,’ he says. By following the same trend, he ended up with a wine that fell out of balance and into excess.

‘The ‘90s was a time for me to learn,’ he says. ‘Sometimes to find the limit, you have to go past it.’

His 1999, picked earlier, was much better. By 2001, he finally felt satisfied with his creation.

Vintages of Réservé produced:

1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012, and every vintage between 2015-2025.

Coloured ribbon

To begin with, Daumen only made this cuvée in the best vintages, but due to global warming he has been able to produce it every year since 2015.

Before, it was a case of not wanting to ‘amputate’ anything from his other Châteauneuf cuvées by making Réservé.

Today, the fruit ‘must be removed from Trois Sources,’ he says, ‘as it wouldn’t be right for it.’

The selection is made at harvest by tasting the berries, and a ribbon is attached to the vines so the picking team knows which ones to select.

The blend is typically 90%-95% Grenache, the rest mostly Syrah, with a little Cinsault and Counoise.

The Grenache has historically all been destemmed, but this is beginning to change, as Daumen likes the complexity that a little whole bunch can bring. He matures it in old foudres, as he’s never liked new oak.

The style

Some Châteauneufs, such as Clos des Papes, focus on finesse. Others, like Château de Beaucastel, are more about structure and balance. Vieille Julienne Réservé is Grenache in excelsis.

It’s a wine of phenomenal concentration, intensity and thrust – it’s so loud and so immense that it dominates your attention. Yet in good vintages it retains enough acidity, freshness and salinity for a sense of elegance and drinkability. It’s a wine of such staggering proportions, such depth and length, that it leaves you awestruck.

That said, I don’t expect everyone to enjoy it. Some will find it too powerful, too intense, simply too much.

Since converting to biodynamic viticulture in 2001, Daumen has seen alcohol levels rise slightly in his wines; but conversely ‘you don’t feel it as much’. He admits it’s hard to explain, but he believes it’s to do with the quality of the alcohol, rather than the quantity.

There’s no escaping that this is a potent wine; it typically reaches 15.5%-16% alcohol. Would it be better with less alcohol? No; as it is a cornerstone of the wine. ‘Alcohol brings this round side, this sucrosité,’ he says.

50 years and counting

Because of its outsize proportions, when tasting from barrel I’ve had niggling doubts in the past about how this cuvée will perform over time. After all, some of those exaggerated wines from the ‘90s fell apart all too quickly. But this tasting extinguished that uncertainty.

Despite its size, it doesn’t need to be aged for a long time before drinking – you can approach it like a normal Châteauneuf in that respect. In fact it drinks better young than most. It also matures largely at the same pace, so the 2012 for example is beginning to drink very well now.

Daumen says there is a degree of unpredictability with this cuvée, but it’s clear that good vintages age very well. Some, like the 2016, should last for 50 years or more. Such is its life force, you can almost imagine it lasting twice that long.

When it comes to food, a côte de boeuf is the obvious choice. It’s a wine that demands protein, fat and smoky char.

Like the more extreme styles of music, fashion or art, it won’t be for everyone. To be certain, you’ll have to try it.

Ensure you’re in the right mood, in the right company, it’s at the right temperature and you have complementary food. But even if it’s not to your personal taste, it’s hard to argue that this isn’t one of the greatest global expressions of Grenache.

Either way, you won’t forget it in a hurry.

Vieille Julienne Réservé through time:

Wines are listed by vintage from youngest to oldest

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