Château Durfort-Vivens

Château Durfort-Vivens is a winery in the commune of Margaux near Bordeaux and rated as Deuxième Cru Classé in the 1855 classification. The estate covers an area of 32 hectares .

The vineyards are classic with the grape varieties Cabernet Sauvignon (70%), Merlot (20%) and Cabernet Franc (10%). The planting density is around 6,600 plants per hectare. The average yield is 45 hectoliters / hectare. The wines mature in barriques , 40 percent of which are renewed annually.

The proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon is classic at 70%, but is still very high compared to neighboring estates, even though the estate brought up to 82% of this variety to the Grand Vin in previous years.

Around 70,000 bottles of the first wine are filled annually . The second wine is called Segond de Durfort . The brands Relais de Durfort and Vivens Rouge are now also available . Earlier second wines were called Domaine de Cure-Bourse .

history

The first owners were members of the Durfort de Duras family, who lived in Margaux from the 12th century. The family has run the winery for centuries after the first vineyards were laid out in the 15th century, leading it to the top of Bordeaux wineries. In addition to Château Lascombes, the family also owned Château Lamothe at that time , which was later to become part of Château Margaux . During his visit to the Bordeaux wine-growing region in 1775, Thomas Jefferson , then ambassador of the USA in France and later President of the USA, noted that the wines of Château Durfort are right behind Château Lafite-Rothschild , Château Haut-Brion and Château Margaux. This opinion was practically confirmed in the classification of 1855.

During the French Revolution , the noble family was expropriated. In 1824 M. de Vivens took over the estate and added his name to the name of the estate.

After the estate belonged to the wine merchants Richier and de La Mare in the meantime, it was taken over by the operating company of Château Margaux in 1937 . Both goods are close to each other. Until 1961, when Lucien Lurton bought the estate, the Durfort-Vivens wines were made in Château Margaux.

In the period that followed, the winery was restored and operated autonomously; In addition to Durfort-Vivens, the Lurton family also owns the Château Brane-Cantenac and Château Climens estates .

Gonzague Lurton, a son of Lucien, has been running the estate since the death of Lucien Lurton in 1992. His wife Claire Villars-Lurton also runs the Château Ferrière , Château Haut-Bages-Libéral and Château La Gurge wineries . Meanwhile, his brother Henri Lurton runs Brane-Cantenac. In 1995 and 1996 investments were made in a new cellar and in new cellar facilities.

literature

Charles Cocks, Edouard Féret, Bruno Boidron: Bordeaux et ses vins . 18th edition. Èdition Féret et Fils, Bordeaux 2007, ISBN 978-2-35156-013-6 .
Horst Dippel : The wine lexicon . 3. Edition. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1999, ISBN 3-596-13826-4 .
Robert Parker : Parker's Wine Guide (= Collection Rolf Heyne ). Heyne, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-453-16305-2 .

Web links

Château Durfort-Vivens website

Individual evidence

^ Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Gutenberg Project

“Of red wines, there are four vineyards of the first quality; viz. 1. Chateau Margau, belonging to the Marquis d'Agincourt, who makes about one hundred and fifty tons, of one thousand bottles each. He has engaged to Jernon, a merchant. 2. La Tour de Segur, en Saint Lambert, belonging to Monsieur Miresmenil, who makes one hundred and twenty-five tons. 3. Hautbrion, belonging to two thirds to M. le Comte de Femelle, who has engaged to Barton, a merchant: the other third to the Comte de Toulouse, at Toulouse. The whole is seventy-five tons. 4. Chateau de la Fite, belonging to the President Pichard, at Bordeaux, who makes one hundred and seventy-five tons. The wines of the three first, are not in perfection till four years old: those of de la Fite, being somewhat lighter, are good at three years; that is, the crop of 1786 is good in the spring of 1789. These growths, of the year 1783, sell now at two thousand livres the ton; those of 1784, on account of the superior quality of that vintage, sell at twenty-four hundred livres; those of 1785, at eighteen hundred livres; those of 1786, at eighteen hundred livres, though they had sold at first for only fifteen hundred livres. Red wines of the second quality, are Rozan, Dabbadie or Lionville, la Rose, Quirouen , Durfort; in all eight hundred tons, which sell at one thousand livres, new. The third class, are Galons, Mouton, Gassie, Arboete, Pontette, de Ferme, Candale; in all two thousand tons, at eight or nine hundred livres. After these, they are reckoned common wines, and sell from five hundred livres, down to one hundred and twenty livres, the ton. All red wines decline after a certain age, losing color, flavor, and body. Those of Bordeaux begin to decline at about seven years old. "

- Thomas Jefferson

[1] Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Gutenberg Project

“Of red wines, there are four vineyards of the first quality; viz. 1. Chateau Margau, belonging to the Marquis d'Agincourt, who makes about one hundred and fifty tons, of one thousand bottles each. He has engaged to Jernon, a merchant. 2. La Tour de Segur, en Saint Lambert, belonging to Monsieur Miresmenil, who makes one hundred and twenty-five tons. 3. Hautbrion, belonging to two thirds to M. le Comte de Femelle, who has engaged to Barton, a merchant: the other third to the Comte de Toulouse, at Toulouse. The whole is seventy-five tons. 4. Chateau de la Fite, belonging to the President Pichard, at Bordeaux, who makes one hundred and seventy-five tons. The wines of the three first, are not in perfection till four years old: those of de la Fite, being somewhat lighter, are good at three years; that is, the crop of 1786 is good in the spring of 1789. These growths, of the year 1783, sell now at two thousand livres the ton; those of 1784, on account of the superior quality of that vintage, sell at twenty-four hundred livres; those of 1785, at eighteen hundred livres; those of 1786, at eighteen hundred livres, though they had sold at first for only fifteen hundred livres. Red wines of the second quality, are Rozan, Dabbadie or Lionville, la Rose, Quirouen , Durfort; in all eight hundred tons, which sell at one thousand livres, new. The third class, are Galons, Mouton, Gassie, Arboete, Pontette, de Ferme, Candale; in all two thousand tons, at eight or nine hundred livres. After these, they are reckoned common wines, and sell from five hundred livres, down to one hundred and twenty livres, the ton. All red wines decline after a certain age, losing color, flavor, and body. Those of Bordeaux begin to decline at about seven years old. "

- Thomas Jefferson