Château Belle-Vue: Vineyards
Château Belle-Vue sits in a fairly prominent position at the roadside, on the D2, a little to the west of Macau, barely two kilometres from the Gironde. Just to the north, sitting to one side on the very same road, is the aforementioned grandiose gateway to Château Giscours. The Belle-Vue vines sit in front of the château, also at the roadside, and then in a number of parcels which run around the château and gardens and to the south. Today these gardens seem rather informal, grassland planted with trees, a simple fence lined with rose bushes, but they were clearly once more impressive as suggested by the images in the various editions of Cocks et Féret.
To the west are the vineyards of Château Giscours, while to the north and east there is woodland, and also the town of Macau. South is Château Cambon la Pelouse, another property acquired by Treasury Wine Estates, and Château Cantemerle.
The estate boasts 15.58 hectares of vines all-told, and the vines have an average age of 32 years. The youngest vines were planted as recently as 2007, while as already mentioned in my history the oldest (like that pictured) date to 1907. The varieties planted across the three estates (Belle-Vue, Gironville, Bolaire) are 34% Cabernet Sauvignon (a significant reduction from 51% just a few years ago), 40% Merlot (a significant increase) and 24% Petit Verdot (a slight increase).
