The domaine de Trévallon!

Located in Provence, in the commune of Saint-Étienne-du-Grès, the domaine de Trévallon was established just 60 years ago, yet it is now one of the most acclaimed wines of its appellation.

It was indeed in 1955 that Etienne Dürrbach, a sculptor by profession, decided to purchase the Trévallon land. At the time, he acquired 60 hectares of garrigue: white limestone rock as far as the eye could see, with not a single vine in sight. His son Eloi, passionate about viticulture, saw in the family estate a potential to be unlocked and undertook enormous works to transform what was then nothing more than rocks into an estate worthy of the name. In 1973, he finally planted his first vines across 20 hectares: 15 of red varieties, composed in equal parts of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, as well as 2 hectares of white varieties divided between Marsanne (45%), Roussanne (45%) and Chardonnay (10%).

In 1976, the first vintage of the domaine de Trévallon was born.

Beyond the grape varieties and the terroir, one of the estate's distinctive features probably lies in its approach to vine cultivation: everything is entirely organic. Eloi Dürrbach refuses to use pesticides or insecticides, maintaining that the best way to make great wine is to let nature express itself — with patience. At the estate, ploughing is also carried out to encourage deep root growth, and short pruning is practised to limit yields while extending the life of the vine stock. As for the harvest, it takes place when the grapes have reached full maturity.

In the cellar, the philosophy is the same: no exogenous yeasts are used, and no acidity correction is carried out. Finally, the ageing periods are long — over 2 years for the reds and one year for the whites — to allow the micro-oxygenation provided by the barrel to proceed slowly and the tannins to soften.

The domaine de Trévallon is therefore now one of the benchmarks in Provence wine. As early as 1978, Aubert de Vilaine of the domaine de la Romanée Conti in Burgundy had been impressed by the quality of these wines. Thanks to him, the estate's name reached Robert Parker, who in 1984 brought it to prominence with the 1982 vintage.

In 1993, the creation of the Baux de Provence appellation did not allow more than 20% Cabernet Sauvignon in the wine blend, and the domaine du had to fall back to vin de pays status.

This had no impact on the estate's sales, as clients were first and foremost buying Trévallon.

The wines need at least 10 years in the bottle to refine and reveal their full aromatic complexity (black olives, candied fruit, graphite, floral aromas, game…). Some older vintages are still available from the estate, such as Trévallon 2004, alongside more recent vintages such as Trévallon 2011.

The estate's legendary vintages include the 1990 Trévallon, still "in very fine form", and the 1998 Trévallon, which still holds considerable ageing potential. Even more modest vintages such as 1993 are of interest for their aromatic complexity, featuring noble animal notes and well-integrated tannins.