Winemaker Notes
The 2019 vintage has a high alcohol content, but nevertheless presents an impressive fruitiness and a beautiful tannic structure, resulting in a well-balanced blend thanks especially to the remarkable Cabernet Sauvignon.
Blend: 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is layered and delicious with blackberry and blueberry character and some chocolate. It’s medium-to full-bodied with a fresh, soft finish. 75% merlot and 25% cabernet franc. From organically grown grapes.
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Wine Enthusiast
An elegant wine, this comes from a small estate in the heart of Pauillac. With its stylish Cabernet Sauvignon black currant flavors, balanced tannins and acidity, the wine is still developing.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Bellegrave (Pauillac) is showing nicely in bottle, offering up aromas of cassis and plums mingled with hints of pencil shavings and vanilla pod. Medium to full-bodied, velvety and seamless, it's elegantly layered, with powdery tannins, succulent acids and a lingering finish. This is a fine effort for this 8.30-hectare family-owned château.
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.
The leader on the Left Bank in number of first growth classified producers within its boundaries, Pauillac has more than any of the other appellations, at three of the five. Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Mouton Rothschild border St. Estephe on its northern end and Chateau Latour is at Pauillac’s southern end, bordering St. Julien.
While the first growths are certainly some of the better producers of the Left Bank, today they often compete with some of the “lower ranked” producers (second, third, fourth, fifth growth) in quality and value. The Left Bank of Bordeaux subscribes to an arguably outdated method of classification that goes back to 1855. The finest chateaux in that year were judged on the basis of reputation and trading price; changes in rank since then have been miniscule at best. Today producers such as Chateau Pontet-Canet, Chateau Grand Puy-Lacoste, Chateau Lynch-Bages, among others (all fifth growth) offer some of the most outstanding wines in all of Bordeaux.
Defining characteristics of fine wines from Pauillac (i.e. Cabernet-based Bordeaux Blends) include inky and juicy blackcurrant, cedar or cigar box and plush or chalky tannins.
Layers of gravel in the Pauillac region are key to its wines’ character and quality. The layers offer excellent drainage in the relatively flat topography of the region allowing water to run off into “jalles” or streams, which subsequently flow off into the Gironde.