Chateau Bellevue

Chateau Bellevue has a long history, dating back to the 17^th century, with the Fief de Bellevue associated with the property in 1642. The family continued to own the estate until 1938, when it was sold to the Conink and Pradel de Lavaux families.

The renaissance came in 2000 when Stephane Derenoncourt and Nicolas Thienpont were contracted to take control of the vineyards and cellars. Half of the stake was sold to Hubert de Bouard de Laforest later and now it was under the same ownership as Chateau Angelus.

Located in the heart of St-Emilion, it lies on the slopes of the limestone plateau, to the west of town. Just over 6.2 hectares, it is planted with 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. The soil is dominated by clay towards the top of the slope, with some limestone in the middle, to the sand at the foot.

The vines are about 40 years old, with biodynamic practiced in the vineyards, fertilized with organic compost, ploughed and co-planted with cereals to reduce soil compaction. Yield is tightly controlled through pruning, canopy management and green harvesting, with leaf-thinning to encourage ripening.

Manually harvested, the grapes are sorted and then destemmed before being fermented in temperature-controlled concrete vats. With pumping over, indigenous yeast is used, and the wine will be macerated in 70% new oak, with malolactic fermentation and two rackings before bottled after 16-20 months.

This estate was however part of the casualties of the 2006 classification, being demoted based on the tastings of the 1993-2002 vintages, with the recent improvements in quality not reflected and considered.

 

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

 

Good quality St-Emilion of medium ruby color, the nose is reasonably intense, showing developing and fairly complex aromas of blackberry and cassis, plum, chocolate, cloves, savory and acrid oak. Medium in acidity, the tannin is a bit too grippy, and the wine is quite full-bodied with reasonable concentration of blackberry and black cherry, plum, cloves, coffee in flavors. With a reasonable finish, the palate is a bit simple in my opinion. It is ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 2-3 years