In 2012, Julien and Delphine began to restore a hillside that hadn’t been planted for generations; there were fully-grown trees where these vines are now. They call it Les Frieys, pronounced “freyS,” with a hard s. (In the south of France the disappearance of the last consonant when speaking French doesn’t always apply, most often with the letter “s”—this is just the start of the madness of French regional dialects and pronunciation.)

This half-hectare hillside vineyard (0.56ha to be exact) is somewhat steep and set on limestone and clay with only a few vine rows on each terrace. It’s a lovely spot and when Julien is there he has a glow of the excitement for its potential—plus it kind of acts like his outdoor man cave with a super cool 007 wine cooler hidden inside the stone wall behind a tiny rock façade door, complete with glasses and a corkscrew.