Le Vieux Donjon

Le Vieux Donjon

Vieux Donjon is an organically-farmed and traditional-styled winery located in Chateauneuf du Pape of the Southern Rhone. Founded in 1966 by Marcel Michel, now the Domaine is managed by his daughter, Ms. Claire Fabre who used to work at Harlan Estate in Napa.

Le Vieux Donjon Rouge is usually a blend of 75% Grenache, 10% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah and 5% Cinsault, along with various other grape varieties added in small amounts. On average, the vines are more than 50 years of age, with many of the vines being older than 100 years.

The grapes are destemmed to various percentages, depending on the vintage. During fermentation at Vieux Donjon, all the grape varieties are vinified together, with the exception of the Mourvedre. The winemaking here is traditional.

Vinification takes place in traditional, square shaped, red concrete vats and aged for 18 months in a combination of 80% foudres and the remaining 20% is aged in cement vats before bottling. The production is close to 4,200 cases per vintage.

Le Vieux Donjon Blanc which made its debut in 1993, is made from 50% Roussanne and 50% Clairette. The wine is completely aged in stainless steel tanks for 6 months. With only 1 hectare of vines, the production is quite small, on average, they produce about 300 cases of wine per vintage.

Brand’s Highlights:

Awarded No.8 in Wine Spectator Top 100 2018

Some vines aged more than 100 years old

Consistently and highly rated by most international critics