Domaine
de Durban is located in the hills to the east of the village of Beaumes-de-Venise,
in the direction of Vaucluse, and is owned and run by Madame Leydier
and her 2 sons. This "Vin doux naturel" is made from Muscat grapes
cultivated and vinified like table wine before pure alcohol is added
to stop fermentation and bring the strength to 15 degrees alcohol.
Domaine de Durban is widely recognized as the definitive producer
of Muscat Beaumes de Venise. Bernard Leydier claims that his wines
are so much more aromatic, opulent and delicately coloured than others
because they use 100% Muscat de Frontignan à petit grains blanc as
opposed to the more common Muscat de Frontignan à grains noir.
In the United States Muscat de Beaumes most often accompanies dessert,
but in the cafés of the southern Rhône it is a popular aperitif, chilled
and served with local melon or foie gras. In youth it displays flamboyant
floral aromas with notes of apricot and honey which deepen to dried
figs, clove and herbs with a few years of bottle age. There is a surprising
mineral character to the flavors as well.
This is the outstanding estate in a village otherwise dominated by
a powerful co-operative and several large négociants.
The information
on this page comes in a presentation-quality pdf file: here
shelf
talkers in pdf: here
