Julien and Nadia d’Abrigeon, two names that you need to remember.

While visiting my dear friend Julien Cecillon, I was happy to see the journey he has been on for the past few years, turning his vineyards to biodynamic farming with the help of his consultant and friend Julien d’Abrigeon. who he quickly pointed out was creating a Domaine in Vaison-la-Romaine. I left with his phone number scribbled on a piece of paper and the very next day I was standing in a middle of a secluded vineyard, bordered by a small forest, sinking in the softest sandy soil feeling like Amelie Poulain on cloud nine!

Julien d’Abrigeon has always had a passion for the living and spent most of his childhood out and about observing fauna and flora. He landed his first job in Switzerland with the legendary that is Marie Therese Chappaz, the pope of biodynamic farming in this country. She allowed him to make his own experiments and he was her right-hand man for four years. Julien continued his journey south of the Rhone Valley and found himself taking the position of Maître de chais at Domaine Jean Louis Chave. His intuition and sensitivity led him to become Jean Louis’s protégé. With his guidance he purchased 1 hectare of old organic Grenache vines in a village called Buisson, in the Southern Rhône, a terroir that 20 years ago wasn’t in favour by the local vignerons because of its cold, sandy soils, uneven ripening season if ripening at all. With global warming, these terroirs are nowadays very much thought after. It is without saying that a certain nearby icon called Chateau Rayas rest on similar soils…

This special plot “Serre de Case” is slowly maturing in foudres and will be released after 18 months… It was an absolute privilege to have been the first people ever to try their wines and in situ. The thrill was real and the emotions aplenty!

Thinking he will grow his estate a steady pace, he was rapidly presented with a 7ha vineyard plot in one location, a stone’s throw from his original vineyard also farmed organically. He simply couldn’t refuse.

Coquelicot comes from a plot on the left-hand corner just underneath the tree line, the rest was sold to JL Chave Selection.

2021 is their first vintage. Coquelicot meaning poppy, celebrates Julien and Nadia’s 8th wedding anniversary. They let the wine be, right up until the end did not even need any sulphur, only 1g was added at bottling.

Production is tiny!