Château Bellevue: Vineyards
The vineyard of Château Bellevue is situated at the heart of the St Emilion appellation, on the slopes of the limestone plateau just to the west of the town. The vines themselves, largely planted at a density of 7,500 vines per hectare, are surrounded by those of illustrious neighbours, including the aforementioned Château Angélus and Le Dôme to the south, Château Canon, Château Beauséjour and Château Beau-Séjour Bécot to the east. It would be difficult to find a list of more highly regarded properties in the appellation, and with such prestigious terroir it does raise a question about the estate’s ranking in the St Emilion Classification; is there, with appropriate effort, potential for promotion here?
The château sits on the edge of a westwards projection of the Saint Martin plateau; even an examination of standard aerial maps (rather than geological ones) hints at this, the arc of trees in front of the building marking out the rim. On the plateau behind the château the soils are dominated by a clay-rich mix also incorporating elements of sand and gravel. Moving down the slope, to the south but also to the west of the château, and also a few hundred metres behind it, there is limestone first, in particular Calcaire à Astéries, and then further down the slope there are Oligocene deposits of sand, gravel, galets and sandy clay. The drainage is good, thanks not only to this terroir and the slope, but also to field drains installed under the direction of Thienpont and Derenoncourt.
Until recently – up until the 2022 vintage – there were just over 6.2 hectares of vines here. Although when Bernard Ginestet visited in the 1980s the domaine was only 70% Merlot, today it is 100% Merlot. When Hubert de Boüard de Laforest became involved the 30% Cabernet Franc had already contracted to just 2% or so, and any Cabernet Sauvignon once planted here had gone altogether, so this process of change had been ongoing for many years. Nevertheless he finished the job, giving the vineyard entirely given over to one variety, which has led to him describing the property as the “Petrus of St Emilion”. The last time I saw Cabernet Franc make an appearance in the assemblage was in the 2012 vintage.
