Julien Barge
| Vigneron | Julien Barge |
| Location | Ampuis (Rhône) |
| Size of Domaine | 8 ha (Côte-Rôtie, Condrieu, St-Joseph) |
| Terroir | Continental climate, Mistral (northern wind) influence. Gneiss, mica-schist, and volcanic soils. Steep terraced vineyards overlooking the Rhône. 150-250m altitude. |
| Viticulture | Certified organic (Ecocert) |
| View Julien Barge wines ↓ |
We are proud to be working with Julien Barge, a sensitive vigneron of real integrity who possesses an inspiring commitment to organic viticulture. The Barge family are one of the oldest in Ampuis, with a lineage of vignerons dating back to 1860. Their holdings are in some of the finest centrally located vineyards just above the village – with great-grandfather Jules being the first to bottle wines under his own label in Côte-Rôtie (1929).
After working alongside his father Gilles for 15 years, Julien finally took over the reins in 2018 when Gilles retired. As much as Julien has been committed to organic viticulture, his uncle and dad are not (at all) keen on the approach and the increased risks. When he applied for the official organic conversion in 2020, a family schism ensued – Julien’s uncle took back his 2ha parcel of prestigious Côte-Brune (that had been under Domaine Barge) and rented it instead to Jean-Michel Gérin! And so, Julien’s Côte-Rôtie holdings decreased from 7.7 to 5.7ha... Despite the family’s pressure Julien stuck to his guns – no chemicals are used, soils are painstakingly hand-ploughed, green manure and cover crops are sown, sheep are roaming free in winter, and the domaine has been certified organic since 2022.
In the face of the ongoing increase in temperature and the incredibly hot summers, Julien has been trialling out various ideas around canopy management – with a view to producing wines that have phenolic ripeness at lower alcohol level. He does not practice a systematic green harvest (common in the region) as that would only lead to higher alcohol. Instead, he leaves a long cane on the vine with more bunches than usual, and between mid to end of August, Julien carries out a pre-harvest: removing all the deemed unripe or damaged grapes, leaving the vineyard a further week or two to finish ripening before harvest. The dispersal of grape sugars across a larger number of bunches throughout the season (up to mid-August) allows him to bring down the alcohol level in his wines to a respectable 12 to 13.5% – while regularly reporting a final yield of 40hh, with grapes in a perfect condition.
Julien has settled on producing two cuvées of Côte-Rôtie – the first, Les Côtes, is an assemblage of his holdings in the exceptional terroirs above Ampuis, including the lieu-dits Côte-Blonde, Lancement, Le Combard, Baleyat and Boucharey, planted on lightly coloured gneiss soil. There is also a small proportion of vines from the lieu-dit Grand-Taillis in the Côte-Brune sector on mica-schist, a darker soil of 'brun' colour. The top cuvée, Coeur de Combard, is a micro-production of 40-60yo vines from a unique terroir in the appellation: the 'secteur volcan' of the lieu-dit Le Combard (an incredibly steep, walled, S/SW facing hillside) is an ancient volcanic vent where the magmatic bedrock outcrops. The volcanic residues are clearly visible on the slope, and the topsoil is sandy, composed of gneiss, iron, and small, round glacial stones.
In the cave, Julien uses whole bunches when the stems bring qualities to the wine (the proportion varies from year to year – none to 40%). He aims at the gentlest extraction possible while vinifying in stainless steel vats. The élevage is slightly more unusual: Julien has established a protocol where the wines stay in the same vats (post cuvaison) to clarify and stabilise naturally during winter. In spring (May usually), they are then racked into 15 to 35hl Stockinger foudres for a further year of ageing, remaining underground in perfect conditions until bottling without fining or filtration. SO2 is only added post malolactic and pre bottling aiming for 50mg/l total.
We’ve never been that excited by a domaine in Côte-Rôtie, an appellation where reactionary attitudes towards organic farming and low SO2 winemaking are still the norm. There is a combination of subtlety and structure in Julien’s wines that really moves us, one that we feel truly captures the essence of Côte-Rôtie.
Julien Barge Wines
CÔTE-RÔTIE 2020
Les Côtes
95% Syrah, 5% Viognier
95% Syrah, 5% Viognier (13.5% alc.)
Produced from different lieu-dits above Ampuis (see profile), this wine is predominately from the outstanding Le Combard, Côte-Blonde, and Lancement. Of note, most growers bottle very expensive single vineyard cuvées Côte-Blonde and Lancement – this wine is a distinct cut above your typical village Côte-Rôtie. It was vinified and aged in cuve for six to seven months then transferred to Stockinger foudres for a year. Julien has reined in the extraction, giving a wine that is digeste and approachable in its youth, that in our mind is the essence of Côte-Rôtie – favouring finesse and elegance, with the most attractive fruit entwined with a mineral core. Initially a touch reductive on the nose, with smoky bacon-fat giving way to floral notes. The dark raspberry fruit is notably sapid on the palate, with a graphite core and saline lick on the finish. For drinking now to 2030.
CÔTE-RÔTIE 2019
Coeur de Combard
95% Syrah, 5% Viognier
95% Syrah, 5% Viognier (13.5% alc.)
Julien owns 2.5ha of Le Combard but his top wine only comes from 0.8ha of 40-60yo vines on the central core of the outcropping volcano (see profile). This plot has more of a southerly aspect, and it is protected from the wind by the surrounding forest (1.5ha of which is owned and taken care of by the domaine) – a unique and exceptional terroir in Côte-Rôtie, dramatically steep and terraced with underground aquifers where roots fetch water and minerals. Made from 40% whole bunches, the fruit is always more intense, open and expressive than Les Côtes. The magmatic soil here brings a vibrancy of fruit, with more depth and tannic spine than wines made on gneiss soil in the rest of the Côte-Blonde sector. There’s dynamism, complexity, and class on the palate – it’s an iron-clad wine, almost 'sanguin', with dark fruits, violet, rosemary and liquorice notes; there’s a sense of umami with a mineral undertow, and finely knit tannins on a long, lingering finish. Grand vin! For drinking now to 2035.