The vintage

The 2020’s vintage starts whith a rainy winter (380mm from the 1st of November to the 31st of March), followed by a mild but just as wet Spring with 200mm of rainfall between the 1st of April to the 15th of June 2020.
Mid-June, the good weather finally settles in and allows an homogeneous flowering.
July and the beginning of August, hot and dry, promote the vine growth.
The first berries mature and change colour from mid-July with about 10 days of earliness which will persist until the harvest.
On the 21st of September, the picking begins under high temperatures near 30°C.
The return of the rains, from the 18th of September, will force us to speed the late ripening varieties picking and finish on the 3rd of October.

Location

Le Chateau Belle-Vue est situé sur la commune de Macau, très proche de nombreux Grand Cru classé du médoc.

Terroir

Château Belle-Vue is located in the surroundings of Macau, adjacent to many Medoc’s Grands Crus Classés, on a deep rough gravely soil.

In the vineyard

– H.V.E Certificate : High Environmental and Agricultural good practices acknowledgment.
– Severe pruning favouring aeration to provide an homogeneous repartition of grapes. Disbudding and bud splitting. Thinning out the leaves on both sides. Cleaning up.
– Integral soil work by grass growing , to encourage the vine’s roots to grow deeper in order to obtain the best expression of this Terroir.

Winemaking

During the vinification, the extraction is done as gently as possible :
– Cold pre-ferment maceration (0 ° C) for 10 days.
– Exclusive use of release by gravity, the juice is re-sent by sprinkling on to the grappa which prevents it from destructure.
– Post-ferment maceration: 20 days on average at 28 ° C to refine the tannins.

Tasting Notes

Deep purple-black coloured, it prances out of the glass with exuberant notes of blackcurrant preserves, stewed plums and mulberries with hints of menthol, mocha and cardamom. The medium-bodied palate delivers appealing freshness and balance, delivering minted black fruit flavours and a soft, well-managed texture, finishing with a spicy lift

Ageing

30% in new barrels
Duration : 14 to 16 months.