Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe

The Brunier story began in 1891 in the village of Bédarrides, which occupies the southeastern portion of the Châteauneuf-du-Pape AOC. That year Henri Brunier gifted his son Hippolyte plots of land on La Crau, then considered practically unfit for cultivation because of its high density of pebbles. Hippolyte planted his first vines on the plateau, where Claude Chappe, inventor of the optical telegraph, had built one of his signal towers in 1821. Hippolyte's son Jules extended the estate to 17 hectares and named its wines "Vieux Télégraphe". After the Second World War, Henri, the second of that name and the fourth generation, rebuilt the estate, took it to 55 hectares in a single holding, and positioned the wine on the world's leading markets. Since the early 1980s his sons Frédéric and Daniel have run the family business together. Nicolas, son of Frédéric, and Edouard, son of Daniel, joined in key positions in 2015 and 2016, and Manon, Frédéric's daughter, joined them in 2018.

• 1891: Henri Brunier gifts La Crau plots to his son Hippolyte
• 1821: Claude Chappe builds an optical telegraph signal tower on the plateau
• After the Second World War: Henri Brunier, fourth generation, takes the estate to 55 hectares in a single holding
• Sixth generation: Nicolas and Edouard (2015 and 2016), Manon (2018)

Wine Spectator reported in September 2025 that, over the last decade, Frédéric and Daniel Brunier have turned the keys over to the sixth generation. As of that report, Daniel's son Edouard manages the Châteauneuf-du-Pape vineyards as well as vinification at Les Pallières. Frédéric's son Nicolas runs the winemaking at Vieux Télégraphe, participates at Massaya, and handles exports. Frédéric's daughter Manon oversees domestic sales. According to the same report, Edouard and Nicolas still consult Daniel and Frédéric on the blends, and blending Vieux Télégraphe involves all five members of the two generations.

• Edouard Brunier: Châteauneuf-du-Pape vineyards and vinification at Les Pallières
• Nicolas Brunier: winemaking at Vieux Télégraphe, Massaya, and exports
• Manon Brunier: domestic sales
• Daniel and Frédéric Brunier: consulted on the blends

Vieux Télégraphe Rouge comes from 50 hectares on the stony Plateau de la Crau, in the south-east of the appellation where the villages of Bédarrides, Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Courthézon meet. The subsoil is Miocene molasse, 1 to 1.5 metres deep, resting on a thick layer of clay heavily charged with stones and covered by a mantle of Alpine diluvium commonly called galets roulés. The family says this terroir gives its wines a highly distinctive minerality, as if they had been filtered through the thick layer of large pebbles left behind when the Alpine glaciers melted. Within the appellation the family also works the lieux-dits of Piedlong, Pignan and La Roquète. Piedlong is a stony plateau north of the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and the highest point of the production area; Pignan, east of Piedlong, is one of the rare sites with sandy topsoil; and La Roquète, adjoining Pignan and Piedlong, lies in a very sandy part of the appellation.

• Vieux Télégraphe Rouge: 50 hectares on the Plateau de la Crau
• Soil: Miocene molasse over stony clay, capped by galets roulés of Alpine diluvium
• Vines for the red average 70 years
• Piedlong: the highest point of the Châteauneuf-du-Pape production area

The family describes its approach as organic-raisonné and sustainable grape-growing. Treatments during the growing season respect the rules of organic agriculture, with two stated goals: zero residues in the wines and minimal external pollution. Since 1997 the estate has used the sexual confusion technique, saturating the vineyards with female pheromones, against the vine moths eudemis and cochylis. Debudding is done by hand, the grapes are picked by hand, and the vineyards are not irrigated. For Vieux Télégraphe Rouge, the grapes are sorted twice at the vine and a third time in the winery, selectively destemmed, and fermented for 30 to 40 days in temperature-controlled stainless-steel and wooden vats, followed by pneumatic pressing and systematic malolactic fermentation. The wine then matures 20 to 22 months in 60-hectolitre French oak foudres and is bottled without fining or filtration. All three of the family's cellars are built on the principle of gravity to receive the harvest.

• Organic-raisonné and sustainable viticulture; no irrigation
• Sexual confusion against vine moths since 1997
• Vieux Télégraphe Rouge: 30 to 40 days' fermentation, then 20 to 22 months in 60-hectolitre foudres
• Bottled unfined and unfiltered; released at 2 years

In Châteauneuf-du-Pape the family makes Vieux Télégraphe in red and white, Télégramme (red), Piedlong (red) and Clos Roquète (white). Vieux Télégraphe Rouge blends 65% Grenache Noir, 15% Mourvèdre, 15% Syrah and 5% Cinsault, Clairette and others; the estate calls it a classic red Châteauneuf-du-Pape, very fine and elegant, and says the best vintages will age for 25 years and more. Its output potential is the equivalent of 200,000 75 cl bottles. Vieux Télégraphe Blanc comes from 6 hectares on the Plateau de la Crau planted to 40% Clairette, 25% Grenache Blanc, 25% Roussanne and 10% Bourboulenc, with vines averaging 45 years; it matures on the lees in barriques, demi-muids and 30-hectolitre foudres and is bottled at 1 year. Télégramme, the second-label red, is made from vines under 30 years old plus older parcels not located on the plateaux of La Crau or Piedlong; it blends 80% Grenache, 10% Syrah, 6% Mourvèdre and 4% Cinsault, spends 15 to 16 months in French oak foudres of 30 to 60 hectolitres, and is released at 18 months. Piedlong is 90% 70-year-old Grenache and 10% 50-year-old Mourvèdre, matured 20 to 22 months in 60-hectolitre French oak foudres. Clos Roquète is a white of 34% Grenache Blanc, 33% Roussanne and 33% Clairette from 3 hectares at La Roquète, bottled at 10 months. According to Wine Spectator, the domaine did not bottle its flagship wine in 2002, when a late-season storm caused widespread rot, or in 2022, when a tornado packing hail wiped out the crop on La Crau.

• Vieux Télégraphe Rouge: 65% Grenache Noir, 15% Mourvèdre, 15% Syrah, 5% Cinsault, Clairette and others
• Vieux Télégraphe Blanc: 40% Clairette, 25% Grenache Blanc, 25% Roussanne, 10% Bourboulenc
• Télégramme: second-label red, 80% Grenache, released at 18 months
• Flagship not bottled in 2002 or 2022, per Wine Spectator

In 1998 the Bruniers acquired Domaine Les Pallières in Gigondas in partnership with family friend Kermit Lynch; the estate is a single holding of 135 hectares, 25 of them planted to vines. The same year they created Massaya in Lebanon with Sami and Ramzi Ghosn, which today produces from about 50 hectares of vines, mainly in the northeast of the Beqaa plain. The family also makes Le Pigeoulet (red and white) and Mégaphone (red) in the foothills of Mont Ventoux, and a Vieux Télégraphe olive oil, whose 2014 vintage joined the range in spring 2015. Wine Spectator ranked the 2020 Vieux Télégraphe La Crau No. 7 on its Top 100 Wines of 2024, and describes the Bruniers as having built one of the pillars of Châteauneuf-du-Pape quality with its own timeless, elegant style.

• Domaine Les Pallières, Gigondas: acquired 1998 with Kermit Lynch; 135 hectares, 25 under vine
• Massaya, Lebanon: created 1998 with Sami and Ramzi Ghosn
• Le Pigeoulet and Mégaphone from the foothills of Mont Ventoux
• 2020 La Crau: No. 7 on Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of 2024

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.vieux-telegraphe.fr/en/, https://www.vieux-telegraphe.fr/en/histoire/, https://www.vieux-telegraphe.fr/en/geographie/, https://www.vieux-telegraphe.fr/en/vinification/, https://www.vieux-telegraphe.fr/en/la-gamme/, https://www.vieux-telegraphe.fr/en/culture/, https://www.vieux-telegraphe.fr/histoire/, https://www.vieux-telegraphe.fr/en/categorie/nos-actualites/, https://www.vieux-telegraphe.fr/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/fiche_technique_vt_rouge_site_vieux_telegraphe_nov_2023.pdf, https://www.vieux-telegraphe.fr/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/fiche_technique_vt_blanc_site_vieux_telegraphe_nov_2023.pdf, https://www.vieux-telegraphe.fr/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/fiche_technique_telegramme_site_vieux_telegraphe_nov_2023.pdf, https://www.vieux-telegraphe.fr/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/fiche_technique_piedlong_site_vieux_telegraphe_nov_2023.pdf, https://www.vieux-telegraphe.fr/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/fiche_technique_clos_roquete_site_vieux_telegraphe_nov_2023.pdf. Secondary source: Wine Spectator, "The Future of Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe" (September 3, 2025), https://www.winespectator.com/articles/the-future-of-domaine-du-vieux-telegraphe. Last verified 2026-09-23. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.