Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe
Benchmark Châteauneuf-du-Pape estate on the galet-strewn La Crau plateau, run by the Brunier family for four generations.
About Domaine
Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe is one of the reference estates of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, founded by Hippolyte Brunier, who planted vines on the high La Crau plateau—a site once considered nearly unworkable owing to its dense covering of large rounded pebbles (galets roulés). The estate takes its name from an old optical-telegraph signal tower built nearby in 1792 by Claude Chappe. Across four generations the Brunier family expanded the holdings, and since the late 1980s brothers Frédéric and Daniel Brunier have led the domaine. Vieux Télégraphe farms around 65–70 hectares on La Crau, planted predominantly to Grenache with Mourvèdre, Syrah and other permitted varieties, producing a structured, mineral, age-worthy Châteauneuf-du-Pape that classically rewards bottle age. The family also makes a younger-drinking cuvée (Télégramme) and oversees sister projects including Domaine Les Pallières in Gigondas.
Flagship wines
- Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge (La Crau)
- Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc
- Télégramme Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Editorial notes
La Crau reds are firm in youth—cellar 8–15 years and decant; the whites are also surprisingly long-lived.