Domaine André Brunel

Rhône Valley · France

Rooted in Châteauneuf-du-Pape since the 18th century, the Brunel family produces, under the Les Cailloux name, wines born of the appellation's rolled pebbles, as well as Côtes du Rhône. Powerful, elegant wines that time reveals slowly.

Certifications

Domaine André Brunel, Vieux cep de grenache tortueux sur les galets roulés, ciel bleu

1954 Lucien Brunel creates the Les Cailloux brand
1989 First Cuvée Centenaire, under André Brunel
60 years Average vine age in Châteauneuf-du-Pape
2020 Haute Valeur Environnementale certification

I · The story

Five generations in Châteauneuf-du-Pape

The Brunel family has been present in Châteauneuf-du-Pape since the 18th century. Its winegrowing activity is documented from that time through the purchase, from the Bishop of Avignon, of a vineyard plot in the north of the appellation. The family has devoted itself entirely to wine for five generations.

It was not until 1954 that Lucien Brunel created the Les Cailloux brand, to make the qualities of the estate's wines better known; the name comes from the countless rolled pebbles that cover the vineyards. In 1971, André Brunel took over the running of the estate. He expanded it into Côtes du Rhône and Vin de Pays, and in 1989 launched the Cuvée Centenaire.

André Brunel was also one of the first in Châteauneuf-du-Pape to practise cover cropping and to adopt a non-chemical approach to the vineyard. In 2012, his son Fabrice joined him to carry on the family story. André Brunel passed away in 2022. Today the estate spans three appellations: Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côtes du Rhône and Vin de Pays de Vaucluse.

“Look ahead and keep moving forward.”

André Brunel

II · The terroirs

From rolled pebbles to limestone slopes

In Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the estate farms some ten quartiers, including Farguerol in the north, Le Revès and Plan du Rhône in the south, and Bois de la Ville below the village. The soils are varied: rolled pebbles, but also sands and clays. Grenache, often very old, accounts for 70% of the plantings, complemented by Syrah, Cinsault and Mourvèdre.

Beneath the rolled pebbles, the roots reach down more than two metres in search of water, while the pebbles limit evaporation caused by the heat and the mistral. The vines thus stay hydrated in the height of summer. Each plot plays its part: free-draining gravels for concentration, red and blue clays for aromatic richness, limestone for structure and length.

The Côtes du Rhône vineyards lie mainly east of Orange, the rest in the Gard, near Lirac. The clay-sand soils of recent alluvium, set over free-draining limestone, withstand summer drought well. The climate is very sunny, with average rainfall of 650 mm per year.

AOC Châteauneuf-du-Pape
AOC Côtes du Rhône Villages
AOC Côtes du Rhône

Domaine André Brunel, Deux hommes de la famille dans une vigne de galets, l'un sur un petit tracteur enjambeur

Flagship estates

I
Domaine Les Cailloux
Châteauneuf-du-Pape, named after the rolled pebbles of its vineyards

Domaine André Brunel, Allée de la cuverie inox du domaine

Domaine André Brunel, Ruines du château des Papes au-dessus des vignes, lumière de fin de journée (moins de 1400 px)

Passerelle au-dessus des cuves du chai du Domaine André Brunel, tuyaux de remontage

III · The craft

From vineyard to cellar

The estate practises sustainable farming, with no pesticides or herbicides. The soils are ploughed to encourage microbial life and aeration, cover cropping limits yields, and green harvesting concentrates the grapes. Harvesting is exclusively by hand, in several passes where the vineyards are interplanted, so that each variety is picked at ripeness.

The red grapes are crushed and then put into vat for a gentle extraction of four to six weeks. The white grapes are picked in the morning only, gently pressed, then settled naturally before a steady fermentation of four to six weeks. A new winery, fully equipped with stainless steel vats, hosted its first vinification with the 2022 vintage.

Certified Haute Valeur Environnementale since 2020, the estate was one of the first to choose underground irrigation for its replantings, managed by weather stations. The new cellar has halved the water used per volume of wine made, and solar panels equip all of the estate's sites.