2020 Bellevue (Saint Emilion)
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Tasting notes
The 2020 Bellevue is deeper in color than its peers. Perfumed kirsch and crushed strawberry scents with a veneer of toasty new oak, this is more modern in style. The palate is medium-bodied with quite thickset tannins, good density and assertive towards the finish. A couple of years in bottle will benefit this Médoc, though it needs a little more refinement.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
James Lawther MW, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
100% Merlot. Big and slightly brooding with a mass of very fine tannin wrapped in ripe, creamy red fruit. Smooth entry, the fruit sweet, just on the edge of overripe. Slight glow but the terroir provides sufficient tension. Needs patience. (JL)
Good stuff, a lovely wine with powerful but supple tannic architecture. As is so often the case with Bellevue, it reveals a side of delicate, floral almost austere side of Merlot that is atypical to the grape but a perfect reflection of the cool 6.82ha clay-limestone slopes - think blueberries and slate, unshowy but with staying power. Owned by de Bouard family and the de Lavau family. Benjamin de Laforest winemaker. Interestingly, the family chose to keep this wine within the St Emilion ranking, so it remains Grand Cru Classé, unlike sibling estate Château Angélus. 33hl/ha yield.
Plenty of fruit and depth with blackberry, iodine, salt and violets on both the nose and palate. Itâs full and finely tannined with serious intensity.