Le Vieux Donjon

Le Vieux Donjon is a French wine producer located in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The modern estate was established by Marcel Michel in 1966, making it young by European standards, but around a third of the estate's vines are more than 100 years old. Unlike many Châteauneuf-du-Pape producers, Le Vieux Donjon does not make a separate bottling from its old-vine grapes. Rather, the estate produces a single white cuvée and one red Châteauneuf-du-Pape blend from classic Rhône varieties.

The estate owns 15 hectares (37 acres) of vineyard in the southern Rhône, all of it farmed organically. These are almost exclusively planted to red varieties, including Grenache, Mourvèdre, Syrah and Cinsaut. Just one hectare of the vineyard is planted to the white varieties Roussanne, Grenache Blanc and Clairette for Le Vieux Donjon Blanc.

The estate's best sites are planted to old-vine Grenache and encompass lieux-dits such as Le Pied Long, Le Mourre de Gaud, Champigne, Bois de Boursan and Cabrieres. The blend is aged for six months in cement tanks, then around one year in oak foudres.

Le Vieux Donjon remains family-owned and is currently run by third generation family member Claire Fabre. The estate produces around 4200 cases of the Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge and some 400 cases of the Blanc a year.