Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All Vintages
Château Bellegrave is located in Pauillac in the Northern part of Bordeaux. It is surrounded by prestigious Grand Cru Classés neighbours such as Château Latour, Château Pichon-Longueville or Château Lynch Bages. It was formerly the property of Armand Roux before it was purchased by his business partner, M. H. Van-Der-Voort in 1901. In 1997, Jean-Paul Meffre, already owners of Château du Glana and Château Lalande in Saint-Julien, purchased the estate. It is currently managed by his grandsons, Julien and Ludovic Meffre.
The vineyard is 8.75 hectares (22 acres) in size, which makes it the one of smallest properties in the appellation. The vineyard lies on composed of Garonne Gravels and the ages of the vines are 25 years in average.. At harvest, all of the grapes are hand-harvested and the yields are low. The wine is fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. It is thereafter aged 12 months in 60% new French Oak before bottling. Only 2,500 cases produced annually.
This is one of the last non-classified Pauillac that is still family-owned, which makes it an incredible value to the consumer. What a discovery – it is considered a special gem in the heart of all of the Grand Crus Classés in Pauillac.
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 The Left Bank of Bordeaux subscribes to an arguably outdated method of classification that goes back to 1855.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.
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.