Christian & Julien Dutruy, « brethren of the Coast (La Côte) » !
Christian & Julien Dutruy, Domaine de la Treille, La Côte, Switzerland
By Laurent Probst | September 15, 2011 (Republished)
Placing the expression “brethren of the Coast (La Côte)” in the title was an opportunity too good to miss. But that does not in itself justify the article. “La Côte” is a region that does not lack wineries where brothers work together to ensure the future of their estate, and it is by no means an exception in the "global wine village".
“La Côte” is one of the canton of Vaud six wine regions. Located on the shores of Lake Geneva, facing the Alps between Lausanne and Geneva. Known to be a major white wine-producing region (especially Chasselas), the region now also produces many red wines that have earned a justified good reputation.
A few years ago Christian and Julien Dutruy took over from this renown estate from their father. In addition, the Dutruy family also runs a grapevine nursery. Before taking one the estate, the two brothers trained and traveled to various skies or rather latitudes. Julian, the winemaker chose to study oenology at the Bordeaux-Talence Faculty. Which he seems to have completed successfully since he got his degree with the bonus title of "valedictorian."
The estate is not a single piece of land. Behind the name of “Frères Dutruy” (Dutruy brothers) two estates and a range of wines co-exist. These are the Estate of “la Treille”, the Estate of “la Doye”, and the wine range of “Les Romaines” (the Romans).
The Estate of “la Treille” is located in Founex where ten wines are made, two Chasselas wines (from different vineyards), the whole pinot wine family (pinot noir, gray and white), as well as a Chardonnay and a Gamay.
The Estate of “la Doye” is the only vineyard of the town of Coppet, adjacent to Geneva, at the southwest end of the canton of Vaud. This estate is also very diverse in terms of varieties. If I had to highlight one wine from this vineyard, it would definitely be the Gamay; one of the most beautiful I have ever tasted in Switzerland to date. A straight wine, concentrated, fruity, in a word pleasurable. The price too is sweet, very much like most wines of the Dutruy brothers.
The “Romaines” wine range was named after the symbol of the nearby town of Nyon: its Roman columns. Those columns off course appear on the labels of the wine range, and they represent high end of the Dutruy brothers production.
Except for a sparkling Rosé (Champagne method), the other wines of the range are aged in wooden barrels. It is a limited range representing all together a little over ten per cent of the total production.
Every wine I have tasted was definitely the result of a demanding work. In addition to the perfectly ripe berries harvest, the wines are magnified by the way they are grown. The Chardonnay wine stands out and the red wines from single grapes or blends are also remarkable. The Gamay wine is certainly the one that touched me the most.