Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Château Bellefont-Belcier was truly brilliant on all three occasions I was able to taste it, rating 95 twice and 97 once. Coming from a 13.5-hectare vineyard on the magical Côte Pavie (it’s right next door to Larcis-Ducasse) and a blend of 65% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon aged 20 months in 80% new oak, it offers a black fruit-driven style as well as loads of black raspberries, black cherries, graphite, leafy herbs, and hints of incense. It's powerful, full-bodied, has building sweet tannins, and the rock star purity of fruit that's the hallmark of the vintage. It’s an awesome wine to drink over the coming 20-25 years.
Rating: 95+ -
James Suckling
Very fresh with fine dry tannins that carry the concentrated and ripe palate very nicely. I love the floral and currant bouquet that’s very enticing, in spite of the wine’s youth. Lots of blackcurrant and tobacco. A blend of 65 per cent merlot, 20 per cent cabernet franc and 15 per cent cabernet sauvignon. Try in 2020.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Bellefont Belcier is blended of 65% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon. It was aged for 20 months in 80% new and 20% in one-year-old barrels. Michel Rolland consults for this wine. Deep garnet-purple in color, it gives delicate dried flowers, garrigue, dusty soil and smoked meats over warm black plums and blackberry preserves with hints menthol. The palate is full-bodied, concentrated and muscular with a rock-solid structure and loads of layered black fruit in the mid-palate, with a lingering earthiness to the finish. 5,000 cases produced.
Rating: 93+ -
Wine Enthusiast
This is a fruity, juicy wine, with soft tannins as well as a touch of toast. It has an immediacy to it, thanks to the forward fruit and generous tannins. At the same time, there is a core of dry structure that will allow it to age.
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Wine Spectator
Warm and lush in feel, delivering soft-edged fig, boysenberry and blackberry compote flavors infused liberally with ganache and black licorice accents. Ample toast hints drape over the finish, and this is definitely accessible, but a good buried graphite note should also help it develop with a bit of cellaring. Drink now through 2032.
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Decanter
There are a lot of changes happening at Bellefont-Belcier right now. It's been under the ownership of Peter Kwok since December 2017, but there were two changes of ownership in the preceding five years. This means that Kwok's team took over the maturation of the 2016 vintage but was not responsible for its harvest or vinification. On wonderful terroir, this is full of the classic St-Emilion gloss in terms of its damson fruit expression and high heat, smoothed out by a smoulder of rosemary and juicy acids.
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.