Château Belgrave: Tasting & Drinking
My first few encounters with the wines of Château Belgrave told me that there was promise here, and I found this to be contrary to the prevailing opinion at the time. The obvious conclusion was that the investments being made by Maison Dourthe were making a difference, and critical opinion was yet to catch up. Having said that, in pure quality terms the wines still lagged behind their classed growth peers somewhat, especially with the broad improvements that have swept across the Médoc in recent years. Nevertheless, credit where credit is due, the wines here are much better than they once were.
In those earlier years one of the most convincing encounters was with the 2010, unsurprising as this was one of the more benevolent vintages in recent years for Bordeaux. But a chance encounter with the 2005 vintage, tasted at ten years of age, showed that this was another vintage of fine quality. What is more, as the estate remained very much on the Bordeaux sidelines, overlooked by merchants and critics alike, the wines remained very good value. This is still true today; in subsequent vintages quality has continued to improve, while the wine has remained well priced. Belgrave therefore serves as an excellent introduction to the world of classed growth left-bank Bordeaux. There are not many estates that match this description, especially when we are talking about rarefied vintages such as 2005 and 2010.
Looking to more recent vintages, while nobody’s world was ever going to be rocked by the 2011, 2012 and 2013 vintages, I thought the 2014 – a vintage which I don’t rate that highly, overall – from Château Belgrave showed really well, and it opened the door to a run of good vintages here. The 2015 was good enough, but the results in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2025 were all noteworthy. Lesser vintages include 2024, 2021 and 2017, reflecting the challenging nature of these growing seasons. Having said that, the 2017 has shown well at times, and is notable for its high concentration of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend, coming in at a robust 88%.
So without a doubt the Maison Dourthe era has been a success, and there are good wines being made here. This is really quite favourable terroir though, especially the higher more gravelly parts, and for this reason I think there is still some room for improvement here. I expect, with continued effort from the Maison Dourthe team, we will see this come with time. For now Château Belgrave remains an estate to follow, although don’t be afraid to dip your toe in the water with better quality recent vintages, such as 2022 and 2025, provided the price is right. You might just be pleasantly surprised. (19/11/08, updated 27/2/15, 30/7/26)
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