Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape Telegramme

Product Description

The Bruniers’ story begins in 1898 with Hippolyte Brunier. A modest farmer who lived off the land, Hippolyte kept less than a hectare of vines to make his own wines. His small vineyard was at one of the highest points in between Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Bédarrides, a stony plateau called “La Crau”. The elevation of this terrain had prompted the construction of a communication tower in the late 18th century to transmit telegraph messages between Marseilles and Paris. Otherwise, the allure of this barren landscape is not immediately discernable—there is nothing but galets roulés, or rounded stones, as far as the eye can see. Up so high, the vineyards are exposed to all kinds of elements—rain, hail, scorching sunshine, and especially the unruly Mistral. This was unwelcome terrain where only the toughest vigneron dare plant. However difficult to farm, Hippolyte saw how the wine from his parcel pleased others, and he began bottling more, gradually increasing his vineyard holdings to sixteen hectares. His sons helped work the farm, although most of the grapes were being sold off as premium fruit to négociants. The Bruniers weathered many storms—not the least of which was the ravaging of their vineyards by phylloxera. Hippolyte’s grandson, Henri, eventually joined the family business, and with him came great changes: replanting the vineyards, the construction of a new winery, bringing temperature control into the winery to protect the wines during the fermentations, and most importantly, the launching of the domaine’s first bottlings under the Vieux Télégraphe label. Henri retired in 1988 and left the domaine in the hands of his two sons, Daniel and Frédéric. The Brunier Brothers have expanded the family’s holdings significantly to seventy hectares, and have boldly expanded their winemaking ventures into new territory. They have created the second label for Vieux Télégraphe known as Télégramme (formerly known as Vieux Mas des Papes), they purchased Domaine La Roquète in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and they joined forces with Kermit Lynch to buy the historic Domaine Les Pallières in Gigondas (which had been in the Roux family for over five hundred years!).

Vivid ruby in colour. The more approachable of the wines, the fragrant bouquet exudes aromas of fresh red fruit and garrigue. Juicy, fresh, direct, and seductive this wine offers flavors of raspberries, black cherries, anise, with a finish full of fruit and warm minerality.