André Brunel

The family has been present on the territory of Châteauneuf du Pape since the 17th century and has been entirely dedicated to wine for five generations. As early as the 17th century, the family's winemaking activity is confirmed by the purchase of a piece of vineyard north of the appellation of the Bishop of Avignon.

Many generations follow one another in the service of viticulture, but it was not until 1954 that Lucien Brunel created the Les Cailloux brand in order to be able to develop and publicize the specific characteristics and qualities of the estate's wines. We will now talk about Domaine Les Cailloux. In 1971, André Brunel took over the management of the estate. Under his leadership, the estate will experience rapid growth: acquisition of vines in Côtes du Rhône and in Vin de Pays, launch of the famous Cuvée Centenaire in 1989. He also makes significant changes in the management of the vine by one of the first in Châteauneuf-du-Pape to have a non-chemical approach to growing vines.

In 2012, his son, Fabrice Brunel, joined him to continue the family history. The estate is divided into three appellations: Châteauneuf du Pape, of course, but also Côtes du Rhône and Vin de Pays de Vaucluse. The search for quality, respect for the terroirs and the ambition to always offer our customers wines that they will be able to appreciate as they age have led us to take extreme care of their production, regardless of the name. The differences mainly concern maturation times (longer for Châteauneuf, shorter for Vins de Pays to make them more quickly accessible) and the use of barrels (for Syrahs in Châteauneuf-du-Pape to round off the tannins, absent on the Côtes du Rhône and the Vins de Pays to preserve the freshness of the fruit).

It is the desire to produce wines that are characteristic of their terroir and their origins, while remaining elegant and of great finesse.