The history of Durfort-Vivens stretches back as far as the 12th century, when a property was first established here by the Durfort de Duras family. The Duras descendents held the seat for seven centuries, during which time they held great influence in the region, owning not only this chateau but also nearby Chateau Lamothe, now more commonly known as Chateau Margaux. In 1824, however, it was purchased by Monsieur de Vivens and the chateau was renamed Durfort-Vivens, and the estate was still in the ownership of the Vivens family when it was ranked as one of the five Margaux deuxièmes crus in the 1855 classification, drawn up for the Exposition Universelle de Paris, at the request of Emperor Napoleon III, by the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce. The passage of the 20th century saw several more changes of ownership, with Durfort-Vivens first passing through the hands of some local négociants before its purchase by the Lurton family, major shareholders of Chateau Margaux. The wine was in fact made at Margaux, which lies adjacent to the Durfort-Vivens vineyards, until Lucien Lurton, who also owned Brane-Cantenac, took full control of Durfort-Vivens in 1961. Today the property remains in the hands of the Lurton family, who run a number of Bordeaux chateaux including Brane-Cantenac and Climens. Gonzague Lurton left his job in banking to take on the role of manager at Durfort-Vivens in 1992 when Lucien divided his estates between his children, a process that also saw Lucien''s other son, Henri, take over at Brane-Cantenac. This may have been a crucial factor in the continuing development of this property, as Gonzague went on to construct a new chai and also to install new wooden and cement fermentation vats with temperature control in 1995 and 1996. These are crucial developments if the wines are to reach the standards expected of today''s markets and consumers.
The Durfort-Vivens vineyards comprise 32 hectares in all, on the typical gravelly soils of Margaux which date from the Quaternary period. Planting density is 6666 vines/ha, and Cabernet Sauvignon dominates, accounting for 70% of the vineyard, in keeping with that at other properties in Margaux. The remainder is 20% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, and yields are typically 45 hl/ha. Harvest is by hand, and the subsequent vinification is temperature controlled, as mentioned above, utilising a mixture of vat materials, including cement, wood and stainless steel. Subsequently the wine goes into barriques of which 40% are new each year. Gonzague Lurton has a direct hand in the winemaking, along with oenologists Yves Glories and Jacques Boissenot. The grand vin is Chateau Durfort-Vivens. The second wine was Domaine de Cure-Bourse, but rejected fruit now goes into Segond de Durfort and Relais de Durfort. More recent vintages have seen the introduction of a new label, Vivens Rouge.
One aspect of this wine which has come in for criticism from several quarters in the past is the high proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon, which has been as high as 82%. Some feel the wines would benefit from even less Cabernet Sauvignon - a number of nearby chateaux use as little as 40%. Having tasted an assortment of vintages over the years, I feel the wines lag behind what I would expect of a deuxième cru chateau. The 2004 was particularly good, from a vintage where the wines of Margaux seemed strong and unusually consistent across the board when I tasted them once in bottle, in 2006. I must confess I was a little taken aback by how attractive I found the wine, and I hope it signals bigger and better things from Durfort-Vivens. Looking back over previous vintages, such as the 2003, 2001, 1999, 1998 and 1995, I see a string of good wines, middle weights although with some notes of elegance and typicité here and there. In many cases they are nice wines. But I can not shake off the feeling that, put simply, Durfort-Vivens could do better. (3/2/04, updated 10/4/07)
Contact details:
Address: Chateau Durfort-Vivens, 33460 Margaux
Telephone: +33 (0) 5 57 88 31 02
Fax +33 (0) 5 57 88 60 60
Internet: www.durfort-vivens.com
