Château Bellefont-Belcier: Tasting & Drinking
Château Bellefont-Belcier was once blighted by machine harvesting and an élevage devoid of oak, both uncommon practices for a domaine of such standing. Happily, in more current times, both of these anomalies have been rectified, and the wines have enjoyed a greater reputation as a result.
I am sure that, with these changes in place, and with new investment and effort made in recent years, the wines have improved as a result. Having said that, I readily admit that I have not tasted any really old vintages, and cannot make this comparison for myself. I did encounter the 1998 vintage many years ago, at a tasting in Edinburgh, but any real memory save for what is communicated by my tasting note has now long faded. My only real knowledge of the domaine is with the most recent vintages, around the time of the takeover by the Wang family in 2012, followed by the Vignobles K era.
Certainly, on the basis of these wines and of course the vineyard’s location, this is a St Emilion estate worth knowing. The 2012, not an easy vintage by far, seemed to be an attractive enough wine, filled with supple charm, when tasted from barrel. The 2013 had some appealing notes, which in such an awful vintage is a real compliment.
The 2014 vintage was good enough, but it was with the 2015 and 2016 vintages that things really started picking up here. Thereafter the team here have turned out a string of excellent vintages, with very good to excellent wines in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023. Even in lesser years such as 2017 and 2021, the character of the wines is good; much of the trouble in these two years was caused by frost of course, and Château Bellefont-Belcier is afforded natural protection by its position on the côtes.
Quality here is tip-top, and the property ticks a lot of classification boxes. Assuming the next iteration of the St Emilion classification comes around in 2032, I suggest Château Bellefont-Belcier is one of the strongest contenders for promotion to the premier grand cru classé ranks. Fingers crossed. (20/3/15, updated 6/1/18, 24/8/24)
