Meet Cellier de la Baraterie | Julien Viana
The Cellier de La Baraterie is a small domain created in 2014 in the heart of the Alps. Julien started with three plots at the age of 21 years old when he got the opportunity to work with a farmer that was about to retire. Julien could get access to the winery, the land, and finish his training with him. He is now currently organically farming 10 ha of vineyard in the village of Cruet in the Combe de Savoie.
We came across Julien’s wines during a visit at Pierre Cotton’s winery in Beaujolais while tasting his first Malvoisie. They both studied winemaking and viticulture together at the same school. Julien does use Beaujolais techniques for the entire production of his reds, as they are all whole bunch macerated. The type of soil is quite diverse in the area as you can find some marl, limestone, and red clay. Julien is working with various varieties, namely Jacquere, Altesse, and Malvoisie for the whites. Pinot Noir, Mondeuse, and Gamay are used for his reds across different plots. Most of the wines are fermented with natural yeasts, and aged in both stainless steel and fibre glass tanks on the fine lees to preserve the freshness of the wines. He has recently also acquired land to grow cereals and other crops, as his ambition is to diversify gradually to a mixed farm structure, common with the former generations of farmers in the Savoie.
To us, both his white and red wines show beautifully well with time in bottle and when poured in a large, open glass. A young vigneron with serious potential in the future!
