The king of Provence

The very 1st time I had a Trevallon it was a revelation: depth, elegance and complexity. All of this is too rare in Provence.

Trevallon is located in the heart of Provence in Saint-Etienne-du-Grès, in the Bouches-du-Rhône, 25 km south of Avignon and 7 km west of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (beautiful village), on the northern slopes of the Alpilles. The vineyard covers 17 hectares: 15 hectares of red grapes, made up of equal parts of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Plus 2 hectares of white grapes, 45 % Marsanne, 45 % Roussanne and 10 % Chardonnay.

Trevallon is a pretty recent domaine and when Eloi Dürrbach wanted to plant vines he had to use dynamite to break the rock. During the '73 , Eloi was able to plant his first 3 hectares of vines. The 1st ever Trevallon was produced in 1976, a great year since this is my birth year :-)

Cabernet sauvignon and syrah are not very common in Provence even though Jules Guyot in his famous "Etude des vignobles de France" says that Cabernet Sauvignon used to be grown in Provence before the phylloxera crisis and that, blended with Syrah, it could produce excellent wines.
The whites grapes are grown on the north-facing slopes allowing to keep acidity and therefore freshness in the wines.

Because in 1993 the INAO required a maximum of 20% of cabernet in the Baux de Provence AOC, Trevallon was forced to the Vin de Pays AOC (Bouches-du-Rhône). Tough to swallow when you're making one of the best wine in the region...

Eloi point of view in the growing and winemaking is what I admire:
-the soil is nourished organically and ploughed
-No pesticides, insecticides, only sheep manure

Only native yeasts are used and acidity is never corrected. Wine is either punched down by foot or pumped-over.
Red wines are raised in barrels for 2 years and 1 year for the whites which are never racked. Lees are not stirred as Eloi believes it brings too much richness to the wine.

In 1996, Eloi asked his father, an artist, to design labels, different each year and reflecting the profile of the wine in this particular vintage.



The 1999 Trevallon Blanc was an outstanding wine. Golden color. This is drinking so well right now. Enticing nose with rich spicy honey mixed with apricot. Throw in the mix a floral touch, light almond and a wax sensation as well and you have a very complex nose. Based on the nose, you would almost expect the wine to be sweet but this is totally dry of course. Full body and fat, low acidity but amazingly this is never heavy or cloying. Instead, you simply can not stop drinking this wine. It coats your palate with again this honey but also a nice and refreshing citrus note plays with the apricot and almond. Really a great wine with a very strong white Hermitage profile. I'm impressed.

The 2006 Trevallon Blanc was very similar except for a lighter color. The nose is a treat with great complexity: lemongrass, honeysuckle, honey, licorice...Full body but really balanced, could not pinpoint one particular fruit on the palate. Wine coats your mouth with additional light butter notes on the finish. Even the wine is fat, there's enough acidity to keep you drinking it...
I want to revisit this wine in 7-9 years.


Very interesting to compare both vintages. The 99 is really similar to any good white Hermitage and the 2006 is more Provencal, at least for the moment. 7 years apart and without any question some similar characteristics.
Trevallon is one of the few wines that I buy every vintages as I have total faith in those bottles.
Long life to the king !

A white that was not supposed to age...

Who said there are no wines good enough to age 15-20 years in the Languedoc? Well Mr Guibert would certainly not tell you such idiotic comments, that's for sure!

If you've seen Mondovino, you certainly know Aimé Guibert. Right after watching the movie, I loved this character, full of emotions and history. I honestly don't care to know the truth about the Mondavi affair in Aniane. What I know is I liked what transpired from Mr Guibert even if I'm conscious that there's much more to this story than what we will ever know.

Anyway, Mas Daumas Gassac, located in the Vallée d'Aniane in the Languedoc, vinified the white Daumas Gassac for the 1st time in 1986 with some Viognier, Chardonnay, Petit Manseng and Chenin Blanc as main grape varieties. The red had been released for the 1st time 8 years earlier in 1978.
It takes a lot of courage to settle in a relatively unknown region and terroir with the hope to make great wine. But it certainly paid off.

The vineyard benefit from a cool micro climate (500m altitude) with poor soil with a very good drainage.
The complexity of the white wine comes from the multitude of cepages used. If as I already mentioned, the Chardonnay, Petit Manseng, the Chenin Blanc and Viognier represents up to 90% of the wine, the remaining 10% are a patchwork of very old varietals from Madeira, Portugal, Yemen...

No machines used here of course for picking.
Macération pelliculaire at 10°C for between five and seven days, followed by fermentation in inox vats at 20/25°C for three weeks. It is then filtered through fossilised seashells before being returned to the vats.

So last Friday, we opened a 1996 Daumas Gassac Blanc.The Guibert describes the 1996 vintage as unique in the Languedoc: a tropical one. Picked from September 9 to 13th, the temperature being over 35C. The least we can say is you can totally read the vintage in the wine! A touch of RS, honey notes with hay, apricot and pear. Somehow it reminded me of a 20 years old Spatlese on the nose. Almost oily and very round, it still shows a perfect balance with enough acidity to lift the wine. Very long finish and very complex. A beautiful wine.

I have to admit that I love wines that shows the vintage, poor or good. I don't want the same wine year after year and thankfully Mas Daumas Gassac manages to integrate the millesime in their wines.