Julien Braud: Tasting & Drinking
The first person who recommended I visit Julien Braud was his father, and you might say there is a possibility of some bias (just a little!) in him making the recommendation. Of note, however, later that same weekend Rémi Branger, of Domaine de la Pépière, made the same recommendation. The coincidence certainly piqued my interest.
When one vigneron makes a recommendation about another it is often based on how they work rather than the quality of the wines. I find vignerons to be very good judges of how their peers manage their vines – whether they work the soil, whether or not they are organic or biodynamic, if they prefer horses to tractors, and so on – but are perhaps less willing to voice opinions on the quality of the wines, which is of course a more personal and less objective judgement. And Julien Braud works in all the ‘right’ ways, with a manageable vineyard facilitating a quality-orientated approach and the production of small-volume cuvées. He was quick to convert to organics, works the soil by horse to reduce soil compaction, and picks by hand. It is perhaps no wonder his peers and neighbours have noticed this young addition to the local viticultural scene.
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