Julien Cécillon is a winery founded in 2011 by the husband-and-wife team of Texas-born Nancy Kershen and Rhône native Julien Cécillon. Julien’s long heritage in the Rhône is comprised of eleven generations of winemakers, including his lauded uncle, Jean-Louis Grippat. Before founding the domaine, the pair both traveled and workd around the world in the wine business: Nancy in New Zealand and Napa; Julien in South Africa, around the Rhône, and in California, where he and Nancy met. Julien and Nancy got things started with a tiny parcel in Saint-Joseph: only 0.3 hectares. Over the last ten years, they have amassed more bits and pieces of vineyards around Tournon; now, Cécillon has estate parcels of vines in Saint-Joseph and Crozes-Hermitage, but also some in the Ardèche near the village of Ardoix. Farming on the estate vineyards began conversion to organic farming in 2019; certification will be complete in 2022. All wines are fermented with native yeasts and aged primarily in neutral wood.