Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe (Brunier)
La Crau
Chateauneuf du Pape
2009

The producer

Half of Vieux Telegraphee’s 100 hectares is in the exceptional lieu-dit of ‘La Crau’ – unofficially the grand cru of the area – which was purchased by the estate’s owner Henri Brunier as virgin woodland in 1891. Vineyards are farmed organically, and the vines in La Crau are now from 70 to 100 years old.

Vieux Telegraph makes several wines from their vineyards not only in Chateauneuf but also in Gigondas, Ventoux and beyond, in fact all the way to Lebanon.  But La Crau is where they draw their cuvee Classique which is indeed a classic stye of Chateauneuf, among the very best of the appellation. Vieux Telegraphe is usually a blend of 65% Grenache, 15% Mourvedre, and 10% Syrah and is allowed to mature for 9 months in concrete vats followed by a period in large old foudres – a regime which allows the terroir and the fruit quality to shine.

The wine

The stony La Crau plateau, in the southeast of the appellation, is where Vieux Telegraphe source their cuvee Classique which is among the very best of the appellation. Vieux Telegraphe is usually a blend of 65% Grenache, 15% Mourvedre, and 10% Syrah and the vines are on average around 70 years old. Fermentation is followed by a very long maceration and then the wine is left to mature for 9 months in concrete vats followed by a period in large old foudres – a regime which allows the terroir and the fruit quality to shine, in a wine of immense minerality, fruit concentration and refined tannic structure.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.