Bellefont Belcier 2023

This well-defined and sophisticated wine shows a gorgeous center-palate of near perfectly ripe fruit. Lots of dark berries and minerals with some pine, while the texture is full and compact with layers of well-integrated, fine tannins. The finish is seamless. Just a hint of salt at the end of the pretty fruit. 72% merlot, 18% cabernet franc and 10% cabernet sauvignon.

With roughly 4,960 cases produced, the 2023 Château Bellefont-Belcier comes from a brilliant terroir just beside Larcis Ducasse and Pavie (as well as Troplong Mondot and Tertre Roteboeuf). Based on 72% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and brought up 15 months in 30% new French oak, 30% ovoid wooden vats, and 40% in used barrels, it sports a dense purple hue as well as awesome aromatics of black cherries, graphite, roasted herbs, and chocolate. It picks up more floral notes with air and is medium to full-bodied, pure, graceful, and beautifully balanced, with a ripe, seamless mouthfeel. It's going to benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and pretty much knock your socks off over the following two decades. Drink 2029-2049.

The 2023 Bellefont Belcier has turned out as beautifully as anticipated, unfurling in the glass with aromas of dark wild berries, spices, iris and violet. Medium- to full-bodied, layered and finely textured, it is animated by lively acidity and concludes with a long, penetrating finish. Over the past few years, this estate has entered a particularly compelling aesthetic phase, demonstrating how sustained attention to detail in both vineyard and cellar can translate into wines of greater precision and purity.

The 2023 Bellefont-Belcier is redolent of black cherry, graphite, chocolate, new leather, incense, licorice and espresso. The 2023 offers a compelling mix of Saint-Émilion power and the more finessed tannins the estate is increasingly pursuing. I am very curious to see how the 2023 develops in the coming years. There's a good bit of potential here. Tasted two times.

Fresh aromatics, attractive raspberry leaf and violet, deeply coloured, well textured, there is clear oak influence, but it is well integrated, and the texture has resistance and rise through the finish. Good quality. 30% new oak. 45hl/ha yield, Vignobles K owners.

A blend of 72% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, the Bellefont-Belcier 2023 has a deep garnet-purple color. It storms out of the glass with powerful scents of baked plums, boysenberry preserves, and cedar chest, followed by hints of tar, garrigue, and iron ore. The medium-bodied palate is a little oak-dominated at this stage, with a great core of black fruits and ripe, rounded tannins, finishing earthy.

The 2023 Bellefont-Belcier does not quite fire out of the blocks, quite "rigid" aromatics with blackberry and loamy aromas. I would just like more nuance and energy. The palate is smooth and sweet, fine tannins and a keen line of acidity. There is dark chocolate on the finish that partially obscures the black fruit, but I like the pepperiness on the finish. Fine, but deserves time in bottle.