Bellefont Belcier 2010

The wine offers up notes of jammy black cherries, black currants, licorice, camphor, underbrush and some subtle vanillin. The wine is full-bodied, voluptuously textured and rich, with good acidity, surprising freshness and laser-like definition given its ampleness and length. It can be drunk early on for its beautiful fruit, but look for this wine to hit its stride in 5-7 years and last for two decades.

The 2010 is a very strong effort from this 33-acre vineyard, which is located primarily on the south-facing hillside of the Cote Pavie, with current super-achiever Larcis Ducasse nearby. From vines cropped at 14 hectoliters per hectare, the wine's final blend is 73% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, but the alcohol hit 15.5%, making it one of the highest official levels in all of Bordeaux. No doubt their southerly exposure rather than late harvest accounted for such ripeness.