Chateau Bellefont-Belcier

Chateau Bellefont-Belcier is located on the south hill of St-Emilion, between Pavie and Larcis Ducasse. The name Bellefont means ‘beautiful fountains’, and refers to a cluster of freshwater springs nearby. Belcier stands for a powerful family of Bordelais nobility.

At the end of 18^th century, Count Louis Francois Belcier, who was secretary to King Louis XVI, created an estate as a stopover for the king, but the project was stopped because of the French Revolution. Later the estate was sold for many times, and in 1889 passed to the hands of the Faures, a family of Bordeaux wine traders. Pierre Faure built the famous and unique circular vathouse under an umbrella-shaped framework, reputedly designed by Gustave Eiffel.

Later the estate was sold to the Labusquiere family, and in 1994 Jacques Berrebi and Alain Laguillaumie acquired and renovated the buildings, with Dominique Hebard joining them in 2004.

Totaling 13 ha, with limestone-clay soils, the vines are averaging 30 years of age, planted with 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. The wines are matured in new oak casks for 18-24 months before bottling.

 

I have recently tasted the 2001 vintage and below is my tasting note:

 

Acceptable quality St-Emilion with medium ruby color, a reasonable nose though without much complexity, showing blackberry, plum, liquorice, wet leaves and coffee. Quite high in acidity, the tannin is a bit astringent with grippy texture. The wine is fairly full-bodied, with reasonably intens...e palate of blackberry, plum, smoke and liquorice. With a reasonable finish, it should be consumed now and not intend for further ageing.

Chasselas

An old variety, Chasselas is Switzerland’s favorite grape variety, but also widely planted throughout the world, with many variations. In Switzerland it reflects the terroir, with flowery and fair acidity at granite soil, fruity and honeyed at chalk, more weighty and characters at clay. In Dezaley and Vaud it is more mineral.

It is the symbol of Swiss white wine, the most widely planted white variety, with most planted in Vaud, representing 62% of production there and distributed in 6 main regions: Vully, Bonvillars, Cotes-de-l’Orbe, La Cote, Lavaux, and Chablais. Some of the villages and appellations have acquired a local reputation of grand cru, like Dezaley, Epesses. Second most important canton is Valais, giving more powerful, aromatic, sunny Chasselas called Fendant.

Light weight, it is neutral wine, with more acidity in Switzerland than elsewhere. It used to be known more often as Fendant, and only by beginning of 20^th century started using the name Chasselas, with the village name added. In Germany it is known as Gutedel, mostly grown in Baden, with flavors of almond and hay, minerality. In Austria it is more often known as Walscher and Moster.

Its name is derived from the village of Chasselas near Macon in Burgundy, and in France it has been replaced, after phylloxera, to produce table wines for Paris. In Loire the variety is used to make wines denoted as Pouilly-sur-Loire, to avoid confusion with the Sauvignon Blanc Pouilly-Fume.

Best Chasselas came from Crepy in Savoie, similar to the Swiss style but lighter. It is also grown as a table grape, like in Romania. Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Italy and North Africa have all some Chasselas, but in California the Golden Chasselas is most probably Palomino instead. But it is indeed grown there as Chasselas Dore, with some grown in Pagani Vineyard in Sonoma as a varietal.

Most probably originated around Lake Geneva, the grape is mid-budding and early ripening, with moderate to high vigor, also having high yield but prone to coulure and millerandage. The berries are large and thin-skinned, often having premature shriveling.

Best producers: Serge Dagueneau, Kientzler, and Schoffit (France); J & P Testuz, Robert Gilliard (Switzerland), Ziereisen, Lammlin-Schindler and Dorflinger (Germany).

Chateau Berliquet

Chateau Berliquet is among the most ancient names in St-Emilion, with the name appearing on the Belleyme maps as early as 1768. The wine was already selling at a high price in 1784, one of the oldest registered examples of wines known by a proprietary name.

The estate was acquired by Count Louis de Carles in 1918, with his grandson Patrick de Lesquen now running the estate. The Carles family was famous for setting up the Bordeaux hospital in the 14^th century.

Adjacent to Chateau Magdelaine and Chateau Canon, there is about 9 ha of vineyards, planted with 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon.

I have recently tasted the 2001 vintage and below is my tasting note:

 

Good quality St-Emilion of medium ruby color, the wine has a reasonably intense nose, showing developing characters and fair complexity, with blackberry, plum, vanilla, cloves, chocolate and mint. Medium in acidity, the tannin is ripe and silky, of fairly full-bodied and showing reasonable concentrated flavors of blackberry, plum, cloves and toast. The wine is of balance but has only a fairly short finish. It is ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 2-3 years.

Chateau Gruaud-Larose

Exact origin of Chateau Gruaud-Larose is unknown, but the knight Joseph Stanislas Gruaud is often credited with taking the first step to create the estate known today in 1725. Two descendants of Joseph, one a magistrate and the other a priest, owned a number of vineyards, which they combined into a single estate named Fond-Bedeau, but still producing wines under two separate cuvees.

The part owned by the magistrate, Chevalier de Gruaud, was later passed to his son-in-law Joseph-Sebastian de La Rose, who bought the other parts inherited by others, adding his name to create Gruaud-Larose. He died in 1795, leaving the estate to his heirs, until 1812 when the property had to be auctioned to pay for the family’s legal bills.

The consortium of Pierre Balguerie, Baron Jean Auguste Sarget and David Verdonnet purchased the estate, and upon David’s death his portion was sold to the other two families. Pierre passed the estate to his two daughters, Marie Henriette and Marie Clemence, with the former marrying to Charles Alexandre de Bethmann. Thus by the 1855 classification, in which the estate was ranked second growth, it was divided between three owners.

The property was split into two in 1867, one half remaining with Baron Sarget, the other under the Bethmann descendants, as Marie Clemence died without an heir, with the estate later renaming to Gruaud-Larose-Faure because of marriage to Adrien Faure. Baron Sarget had more success and had built the chateau still gracing the property today. Then the Sarget portion was sold in 1917 to the Cordier group, with the Faure portion sold also in 1935, effectively reuniting the property.

It was sold again in 1983 to a French bank Compagnie de Suez, then to Alcatel a decade later. In 1997 the property was sold to another Bordeaux family headed by Jacques Merlaut, also owning some other properties in Bordeaux.

Chateau Gruaud-Larose has 150 ha in total, of which 82 ha are planted. The vineyards are around the chateau, separated from the Gironde by the small village of Beychevelle. There is deep gravel in the vineyard, planted with 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Malbec, with vine averaging 45 years of age, at a density of 10000 vines per ha.

An interesting sonic anti-hail system is available, essentially a sonic cannon. The grapes are harvested by hand, with the winemaking overseen by Jacques’ son, Jean Merlaut. There are two new cellars with wooden fermentation vats and new grape reception rooms to improve quality, an investment from Alcatel. The berries are sorted and undergo cold soaking in temperature controlled fermentation vessels, a mixture of wooden and concrete vats, with pumping over twice a day.

The concrete vats help to mix the wine as it ferments by creating currents, also chemically inert and maintaining a stable temperature. A third of the vintage undergoes malolactic fermentation in oak barrels, before ageing the entire wine in 50% new oak for eighteen months. There is light fining and filtration before bottling, with the grand vin Chateau Gruaud-Larose producing about 25000 cases per year. A second wine was introduced in 1979, called Sarget de Gruaud-Larose, of about 16000 cases.

On the label there is the wordings ‘the wine of kings, the king of wines’, with the wines originally destined as a gift for the Emperor of Vietnam in 1872 but unfortunately the vessel sank.

I have recently tasted the 2004 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Good quality St-Julien GCC with medium ruby color, a reasonable concentrated nose showing developing and fairly complex aromas of blackcurrant, blackberry and black cherries, cedar, savory and tobacco, liquorice, meaty and leather. Medium in acidity, the tannin is quite high with ripe and talc-like texture. Fairly full-bodied, the reasonably intense palate has blackcurrant, blackberry and black cherries, liquorice, vanilla and cedar. With a reasonable finish, the wine is a bit too mediocre for a second growth. Ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 3-5 years.

Chateau du Tertre

Chateau du Tertre is located in the south-western reaches of Margaux, on a large gravel plateau. Tertre refers to a hillock or knoll, the highest hill in the commune, and is the origin of the name of the estate. It once belonged to the Seigneurie d’Arsac, one of the oldest of Medoc’s noble families.

Guillaume Guiral and his descendants had a stronghold at Arsac until the 16^th century, when the brother of the son-in-law of the owner at the time, Thomas Montaigne, assumed the title of Seigneur. The estate subsequently was passed to the Arrerac family before coming to the ownership of the Marquis de Segur, when the family had acquired many cru classe and cru bourgeois estates.

When the estate was ranked as a fifth growth in the 1855 classification, it was in the hands of Charles Henri, who later sold to Henri de Koenigswarter. It fell into bad times with phylloxera, global depression and the wars. Later it was purchased by the Gasqueton family, also owning Calon-Segur.

With heavy investment, the quality improved and in 1995 the estate was sold to Eric and Louise Albada Jelgersma of Chateau Giscours, and the wine quality further improved. The estate itself was also renovated, with a garden and a pool.

The vineyards cover 50 ha, a single block adjacent to the chateau. The soil is gravelly, with pebbly mound typical in the region. Planted with 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot, the vines average 35 years of age, but many vines actually dated from 1950s and 1960s.

Now there is better training and care of the vines, with green harvesting, to improve quality. The harvested fruit is fermented in traditional wooden vats under temperature control, with maceration up to three weeks. The wine spends up to 18 months in oak, with 50% replaced each year, plus racking every three months and fining with egg white before bottling. The wine is transferred throughout the process by gravity without mechanical pumping.

I have recently tasted the 2003 and 2004 vintage. Below are my tasting notes:

Good quality Margaux GCC with medium ruby color, a fairly intense and complex nose showing aromas of blackcurrant, blackberry and bilberry, toast, smoke and cedar, liquorice, chocolate, cream, wet leaves and earth. Medium in acidity, the tannin is ripe and integrated. Fairly full-bodided, the wine has a reasonably intense palate, with flavors of blackcurrant, blackberry and plum, liquorice, smoke and cedar. With a reasonable finish, it has a good balance and harmony. A good value for money and ready to drink now, but can benefit from further ageing of another 2-3 years.

Good quality Margaux GCC with deep ruby color and garnet rims, the nose if of reasonable concentration, showing good complexity of blackcurrant, blackberry and blueberry, black olive, liquorice, cedar, cocoa, game and tar. Good acidity accompanying a ripe and silky tannin, the wine is fairly full-bodied with reasonably intense flavors of blackberry and plum, coffee, black olive and liquorice. A reasonable finish, it is more vegetal comparing with the 2003 vintage tasted earlier. Ready to drink now though can benefit of another ageeing for another 4-6 years.

Chateau Le Prieure

Chateau Le Prieure has been under the Brisson family since 1832, with the family having played an important part in the local political and social affairs. Madeleine Brisson, through her marriage to Louis Guichard, brought the vineyards to her husband’s family in 1918.

Olivier Guichard decided to upgrade the property in 1998, which was later passed onto his daughter Aline and her husband after his death. The small cellar was renovated and modernized, with also a wooden terrace built to allow a good view of the St-Emilion valley.

With 6 ha, it is located on the St-Emilion plateau, bordering Troplong-Mondot and Pavie-Macquin.

I have recently tasted the 2002 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Acceptable quality St-Emilion with medium ruby color, a reasonably intense and developing nose showing blackberry and plum, green bell pepper, coffee, hints of savory and toast. Medium in acidity, the tannin is ripe and velvety. The wine is fairly full-bodied with reasonably intense flavors of blackberry and plum, blackcurrant leaf, liquorice and some white pepper. A reasonable finish, the wine is overall fairly simple with a bit of under ripeness which shows it is from a not so ideal vintage. It is ready to drink now and can benefit from further ageing of another 2-3 years.

Chateau Yon-Figeac

Yon is the name of the place where the vineyard is located, and Chateau Yon-Figeac was created in the 19^th century, carved out of the larger Figeac estate. Located on the hill at the heart of St-Emilion, it was bought in 2005 by Alain Chateau, a businessman.

Alain invested to renovate the vineyard to improve the quality of the wine, and the estate now covers 24 ha, with sandy clay soils, having some iron slag. There are 3 wines produced, apart from the grand vin Chateau Yon-Figeac, the second wine is Les Roches de Yon Figeac and another wine called Yon Saint-Martin.

The winemaking process is now being consulted by Denis Dubourdieu, with the initial focus on recultivating the vineyard and totally abandoning herbicide. Planted with 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, there is now a small amount of Petit Verdot also.

I have recently tasted the 1998 vintage and my tasting note is as below:

Acceptable quality St-Emilion with medium ruby color, reasonably intense nose showing fair complexity of blackcurrant, blackberry and plum, savory, wet leaves and forest floor, liquorice, toast and farmyard. Fairly high in acidity, the tannin is robust and grippy, with a fairly full-bodied structure, showing reasonably intense flavors of blackberry and plum, cloves, wet leaves and forest floor. The wine has a fairly short finish and a bit unbalanced as I think the acidity is a bit too high, without the fruit and ripeness to support, and also a general impression of not having sufficient ripeness. Ready to drink now and not intend for further ageing.