2005 VIEILLE JULIENNE Cuvée Reservé 2005

(10-2007) Along with Clos St.-Jean’s Deus Ex Machina, Vieille Julienne’s 2005 Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve (200 cases produced) is the wine of the vintage. From 101-year old Grenache vines planted in sandy soils, it boasts a blackpurple color as well as a gorgeous perfume of smoke, meat, blackberries, sweet cherries, creme de cassis, licorice, spice, and a hint of pine forestunderbrush. The fruit dominates in this rich, intense, remarkable effort. This is... one of the most legendary Chateauneuf du Papes ever made. Over the last decade, Jean-Paul Daumen, the proprietor, winemaker, and Mr. Everything at Vieille Julienne, has emerged as one of France’s most compelling wine producers. Taking advantage of the ancient vines his family owns in the northern sector of Chateauneuf du Pape, and biodynamically farming the entire vineyard, he has produced extraordinary wines since 1998. Daumen’s winemaking philosophy is 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. The results are wines of extraordinary purity, and naked expressions of terroir as well as the personality of the vintage. I cannot recommend these wines highly enough. Sadly, as with most of the world’s most majestic wines, production is relatively limited, and the demand is insatiable.