VDP Bouches du Rhône Trévallon (Domaine de) Eloi Dürrbach 2023

Lot presentation

VDP Bouches du Rhône Trévallon (Domaine de) Eloi Dürrbach 2023

The wine

Produced largely from the Roussane variety, with a touch of Chardonnay, this is an exceptional certified organic cuvée, produced in small quantities. It matures for 12 months in oak barrels and the resulting wine is phenomenal: a complex nose offers notes of honey, warm brioche and flowers leading into a seductively balanced palate with mineral freshness, spice and fruit. A white wine rewarding a few years in the cellar to reveal its full potential. With fabulous food pairing versatility to boot, this bottle is a storming success which cements the reputation of this domaine.

Located on the northern slopes of the Alpilles, between Avignon and Arles, near St Rémy de Provence, Trévallon was acquired by René Dürrbach in 1955. A painter and sculptor and friend of Picasso, Léger and Gleizes, he wanted to get away from the bustle of the Côte d'Azur and withdraw to a more peaceful environment. In 1973, at the age of 23, his son Eloi Dürrbach, who was studying architecture in Paris at the time, decided to come and live in the "mas" (a Provençal farm) at Trévallon, and to create a vineyard by dynamiting some of the hills surrounding the property. The first vines were planted in the winter of 1973 on an extraordinary site that combines garrigues with limestone rock.
The vineyard consists of small plots that lie within a two kilometre radius of the winery. The vines are grown using natural, traditional methods, with no fertilizers or chemical weed control. For the red wines, Elöi Dürrbach chose an equal quantity of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. A decision that resulted in the INAO (the official body that oversees AOC regulations) refusing to approve his wine as AOC Baux de Provence when the appellation was created in 1993. The reason given was that Cabernet Sauvignon was over-represented in the blend. However, it is this that gives the wine its special character: on the Alpilles terroir it brings spiced notes with aromas of cinnamon and pepper. The Syrah gives the wine richness and a silky, seductive character. Previously classified under Coteaux d'Aix, Trévallon's wines have been labelled as Vin de Pays des Bouches du Rhône since 1996. Despite the obstacles the winemaker had to overcome, many of his peers were quick to recognise him as a wine genius: Robert Parker, Aubert de Villaine (Domaine de la Romanée-Conti)... Eloi Dürrbach passed away suddenly in 2021 and his children, Ostiane and Antoine, took over the estate that is considered one of the legends of Provence.
Wine lovers should note that, for the 1983, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991, the wine was classified under the Coteaux-d’Aix-en-Provence appellation; from 1994 to 2008 under VDP Bouches-du-Rhône, and finally, since 2009, under IGP Alpilles.