Domaine de Trévallon

Eloi Dürrbach established Domaine de Trévallon in 1973 on the rocky, arid slopes of the Alpilles, where the Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah he planted would never have been approved under the then-existing appellation rules for Les Baux-de-Provence. The appellation authorities eventually agreed and then changed their minds; Trévallon spent years producing one of the most celebrated wines in Provence under a simple Vin de Table designation, which concentrated rather than diminished its reputation among collectors who had tasted it.

The farming has been certified organic under Ecocert for decades. The garrigue scrubland surrounding the vineyard, the rocky limestone soils, and the mistral wind that Dürrbach considers one of the estate's most reliable disease controls combine to produce conditions where organic viticulture is not especially difficult — the challenge is managing the extreme drought stress that comes with minimal rainfall and poor water-retention soils.

The Trévallon red — a roughly equal blend of Cabernet and Syrah — has drawn 96 points from Wine Advocate and is considered one of the defining wines of southern France by any serious list of southern Rhône and Provence reference points. It ages with a complexity and intensity that most Provençal red wine cannot sustain past five years.

Dürrbach's son Ostiane now manages the estate. The philosophy, and the farming, are unchanged.