Domaine de Trévallon

Trévallon is a Provençal institution. Brought to prominence by Eloi Durrbach – the erstwhile winemaker of Château Vignelaure, it is known for making some of, if not the, best wines in Provence, and especially for its iconic red.

The Trévallon estate was purchased by Eloi’s artist parents in the 1950s, funded by the sale of one of his mother’s tapestries – of their friend Picasso’s painting Guernica – to collector Nelson Rockefeller. Art and wine are in the lifeblood of this family and its place in the Alpilles.

Eloi came back from his architecture studies in Paris and agreed with his father that the land – planted only with olives, rosemary, thyme, and scrub - was suited to vines. He noted a similarity between the limestone soils of parts of Provence, especially around the picture-perfect environment of Baux de Provence (whose limestone has been quarried for centuries) and the the limestone clay of Bordeaux. Researching the history of the area before the phylloxera blight, he discovered that both Cabernet Sauvignon, and red wines made from it, were more commonplace then than they became after the region recovered from phylloxera in the 20th century.

The first wines were priced at three times what anyone else was charging locally, and were not selling well, until a visit from Aubert de Villaine from Domaine de la Romanée Conti, who introduced famous American importer Kermit Lynch (and later Robert Parker). The wines became internationally known and respected, as they have been ever since.

Sadly Eloi Durrbach passed away in 2021, but his family are continuing the tradition he established. The wines do not fit within the Appellation system so carry the designation IGP Alpilles. The labels were designed/illustrated in his later years by Eloi’s artist father René. The property remains a haven of the marriage of fine wine and fine art, with regular exhibitions.

Singular and composed—wines of cool-climate clarity with bright acidity, floral lift and a firm, structured backbone.