The 2014 vintage – Fréderic Bonnaffous
The year got off to an unseasonably wet and mild start, with average temperatures of 8.5°c recorded in January and February at our weather station in Château La Garde. This resulted in an early, good quality budburst in the first Merlots at Château Reysson and the Cabernet Sauvignon at Château Pey La Tour in the third week of March.
Thankfully, the smooth start continued in frost-free conditions, and wi...
Originally a highly reputed hunting pavilion during the reign of Louis XV, the expansion of the vineyards was particularly influenced by the Coutanceau family, whose name was first adopted for the estate’s wines during the classification of Bordeaux wines carried out by Guillaume Lawton in 1815. The “Bellegrave” designation first appeared in 1845, when Bruno Devès, a negociant in Bordeaux, remodelled the estate, favouring vine growing on the f...
Situated at the extremities of the St-Julien appellation, separated from its neighbour Château Lagrange by only a stream, Château Belgrave is one of the oldest Cru vineyards in the Médoc. In 1855 it was classified as a 5th growth because of the exceptional quality of its deep gravel soils. The soils at Château Belgrave show remarkable diversity. Two hillocks made up of gravel and pebbles deposited thousands of years ago by the Garonne river, o...
A significant amount of work is carried out in the vineyard to ensure optimum quality of the grapes. Increasing the planting density per hectare to 10,000 hectares across 75% of the vineyard and increasing the canopy area moderates yields and improves the concentration of the grapes. Studies initially carried out at Château Belgrave to analyse the correlation between vine growth and the profile of the sub-soil and water supplies, have led to a...
Since 1982, Château Belgrave has been equipped with ageing and vinification tools capable of the most gentle winemaking methods. In 2004, the tank room was entirely remodelled, with the focus on respecting the character and diversity of the parcels, resulting from selective harvesting. This includes installing 37 tanks of varying sizes and composed of stainless steel and oak, of which 14 equipped with an integrated pigeage system. In 2012, thr...
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