Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesFrom the easternmost appellation in Bordeaux, this wine is softly rich. Juicy black-currant flavors and ripe tannins come from the blend mainly of 65% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. It is dense while open and attractively fruity. Drink from 2020.
Thanks to the hint of green bell-pepper and relatively sleek body, you could almost mistake this for a Médoc red. But there’s nice fleshiness and a touch of savory character on the palate that make this a flexible food-wine. A blend of merlot and cabernet.
Château Château Bellevue Peycharneau is located in the historical village of Sainte-Foy-la-Grande in Pineuilh, with vineyards alongside the Dordogne river. It is the eastern neighbor of the St.-Emilion region and offers similar quality but at a much affordable price. It used to be a Bordeaux Supérieur but was promoted into Côtes de Bordeaux Sainte Foy since the 2016 vintage. The owner of the estate, the Onillon family and the cellar master/winemaker, Mr. Jean-Claude Pirès, have succeeded in producing every year an outstanding wine at a good value. It regularly receives international press and gold medals. The vineyard is 15 hectares in size (37 acres) with high density planting and rigorous vineyard management. The grapes are hand picked during harvest and are then put in stainless steel vats for fermentation. The wine ages 12 months in new French oak and is then bottled. 5,000 cases produced annually. Estate grown and bottled.
In most of France, wines are named by their place of origin and not by the type of grape (with the exception of Alsace). Just like a red Burgundy is by law, always made of Pinot noir, a red Bordeaux is a blended wine composed mainly of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Depending on the laws of the village from which the grapes come, the conditions of the vintage and decisions of the winemaker, the blend can be further supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot and in rare cases, Carmenere. So popular and repeated has this mix of grape varieties become worldwide, that the term, Bordeaux Blend, refers to a wine blended in this style, regardless of origin.