Chateau Bellevue 2019
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Parker
Robert - Decanter
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Dunnuck
Jeb
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Once again, thanks to the diversity of the vineyard’s exposure and soils, this is a vintage in which Château Bellevue’s different plots combine to offer a multi-faceted Merlot. The color is ink-black with violet glints. Magnificent aromas of black fruits mingling with notes of graphite come to the fore on the nose. The entry on the palate is fresh, while the tannic structure is dense and taut and is underpinned by lovely acidity that brings precision, verticality and length of flavor. A long-aging wine that, like all great vintages of Château Bellevue, will reveal its full personality in a few years’ time.
Blend: 100% Merlot
The Barrel Sample for this wine is above 14% ABV.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Bellevue is a pretty little vineyard poised just above Château Angelus in Saint-Émilion. The soils here are clay/limestone, and it is planted to 100% Merlot. Deep purple-black in color, the 2019 Bellevue rolls sensuously out of the glass with enticing notes of preserved plums, blueberry compote and Black Forest cake plus hints of powdered cinnamon, clove oil, candied violets and star anise. Full-bodied, concentrated and totally seductive in the mouth, the decadent black and blue fruits are well-supported by firm yet velvety tannins and tons of freshness, finishing very long and wonderfully opulent.
Barrel Sample: 93-95+ -
Decanter
As ever a lesson in terroir, because 100% Merlot but with low pH from cool clay-limestone soils that means it can be austere in the early days. This has beautiful redcurrant leaf notes, reminiscent of a Cabernet Franc, low yields just under 30hl/ha so had to be very careful with extraction. This really does have sapidity and salinity, appetising tannins and a touch of minerality, with a purity that makes me think of Château Magdeleine back in the old days before it became subsumed into Belair-Monange. Strongly recommend. I love also how it has its own clear personality so distinct from Angélus and they are right next door.
Barrel Sample: 95 -
Jeb Dunnuck
A riper, richer wine in the vintage, the 2019 Château Bellevue offers up lots of blackberry and currant-like fruits as well as spicy oak, chocolate, and chalky minerality. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it has ripe, polished tannins, shows the purity of the vintage, and just has loads of character. I like this today, but it should evolve positively over the coming 4-5 years and hold at a plateau for 15+. Best after 2026.
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It is the de Lavaux family who hold the other half of the property. Together, the two families will carry on the work started in 2000 by Nicolas Thienpont and Stéphane Derenoncourt. The promotion of the property will be reinforced by the dynamism of Chateau Angelus.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Marked by its historic fortified village—perhaps the prettiest in all of Bordeaux, the St-Émilion appellation, along with its neighboring village of Pomerol, are leaders in quality on the Right Bank of Bordeaux. These Merlot-dominant red wines (complemented by various amounts of Cabernet Franc and/or Cabernet Sauvignon) remain some of the most admired and collected wines of the world.
St-Émilion has the longest history in wine production in Bordeaux—longer than the Left Bank—dating back to an 8th century monk named Saint Émilion who became a hermit in one of the many limestone caves scattered throughout the area.
Today St-Émilion is made up of hundreds of independent farmers dedicated to the same thing: growing Merlot and Cabernet Franc (and tiny amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon). While always roughly the same blend, the wines of St-Émilion vary considerably depending on the soil upon which they are grown—and the soils do vary considerably throughout the region.
The chateaux with the highest classification (Premier Grand Cru Classés) are on gravel-rich soils or steep, clay-limestone hillsides. There are only four given the highest rank, called Premier Grand Cru Classés A (Chateau Cheval Blanc, Ausone, Angélus, Pavie) and 14 are Premier Grand Cru Classés B. Much of the rest of the vineyards in the appellation are on flatter land where the soils are a mix of gravel, sand and alluvial matter.
Great wines from St-Émilion will be deep in color, and might have characteristics of blackberry liqueur, black raspberry, licorice, chocolate, grilled meat, earth or truffles. They will be bold, layered and lush.