Critics reviews
(Decanter.com, Ten Best Wines from Berry Bros., June 09)
About this WINE
Domaine de Trevallon
René Dürrbach, painter, sculptor and friend to Picasso, purchased Domaine de Trévallon in 1955 so that he would be able to retire in a more peaceful area. He always believed that the encompassing scrubland would be capable of producing fine wines.
In 1973 Eloi Dürrbach moved from Paris after studying architecture, to create a winery on his parents' property. He had to dynamite part of the hills surrounding the domaine to create the vineyard in the heart of this extraordinary landscape, halfway between Garrigue and Limestone.
The vineyard of 20 hectares is made up of a large number of small plots, all located within a 2 km radius of the winery. The vines are cultivated naturally, in accordance with time-honoured tradition, without the use of insecticides, chemical fertilizers or herbicides.
Domaine de Trévallon is located in the Medieval town of Les Baux-de-Provence, 30 km due south of Avignon, marginally closer to another photogenic Roman out-post: Arles. The proximity to the Southern Rhône in vinous terms is an important qualitative indication, but one must also underline the inherent differences, and stress the nuances and genius that have allowed Eloi Durrbach to make the greatest of all Provençal wines. Whereas Châteauneuf du Pape glories in heady Grenache and brooding Mourvèdre, Trevallon is an equal partnership of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Cabernet has found a natural homestead in the relative altitude of the slopes of the Alpilles, its generous black fruit core held in counterpoint by the purity and focus of the Syrah.
The assemblage aroused suspicion in the authorities and in 1993 the wine was effectively down-graded from an Appellation Contrôleé Coteaux de Baux en Provence to the seemingly humble Vin de Pays des Bouches du Rhône. Eloi was unmoved; he knew that the blend was the right one and that Trevallon would quickly take its place at the High Table of great Vin de Pays of the world, where, despite impressive competition, it has held court with great eloquence ever since.
Other Varieties
There are over 200 different grape varieties used in modern wine making (from a total of over 1000). Most lesser known blends and varieties are traditional to specific parts of the world.
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Description
Lots of schisty, peppery, vital character here with a real sense of minerality. That character comes through strongly on the palate with crunchy black fruit and good concentration, though there is finesse too, with racy acidity and firm but polished tannins into a long finish. One for 10 years or more in the cellar.
(93/100 points The Wine Gang - Top 20 BBR Wines - July 09) Eloi Dürrbach is especially pleased with his 2006 Trévallon, a wine which shares the charm and generosity of fruit of a lot of S. Rhônes; indeed it is worth remembering that Baux-de-Provence is only around 25 south of Avignon. The cépages are different, not a great deal of Cab. Sauvignon tending to find its way into Châteauneuf du Pape, even if Syrah increasingly does. A harmonious nose marries red fruits with black truffle, the latent power cloaked by silky elegant tannins, the palate dense and full of potential, but finely-wrought and wonderfully focused. A very fine vin de garde for a decade or more.
(Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer)
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