| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Right Bank > St Emilion |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
This tiny, 2 hectare vineyard - a partial enclave of Pavie Decesse - is owned by Gerard Perse of Chateau Pavie and is in effect a "vin de garage" type micro-cuvée that is often even more concentrated than Pavie itself. This blend of 90% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon is matured in 100% new oak. The yield in 2018 was 30 hl/ha with alcohol at 14.56%.
View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château Bellevue Mondotte
This is really refined with intense tannins that are wonderfully polished, yet powerful. So much crushed stone, mineral, blackberry and blueberry with black-olive and lavender undertones. It’s full-bodied with composure and purpose and a long finish. Chalk undertones. Tight at the end. Small production. Try after 2025.
One of the more primordial, backward wines in the vintage, the 2018 Bellevue Mondotte is 90% Merlot and the balance Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, brought up in new barrels. Dense purple-hued, it delivers a mineral-drench bouquet of chocolate-covered currants and black cherries as well as notes of camphor, loamy earth, graphite, and violets. Full-bodied and beautifully concentrated on the palate, it still has the vintage's pure, elegant, light on its feet style as well as plenty of background oak, ripe, silky tannins, and again, this wonderful sense of minerality. The cellar will be your friend. I'd give bottles at least 5-7 years, and it should keep for 30-40 years or more. It's an incredible Saint-Emilion.
Grapes for this wine come from the plateau with yields of 30 hectoliters per hectare. Composed of 90% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon with a 3.5 pH and 14.56% alcohol, the deep garnet-purple colored 2018 Bellevue Mondotte slowly unfurls to offer profound scents of chocolate-covered cherries, preserved plums, blackberry compote and espresso, with hints of candied violets, tapenade, cast-iron pan and unsmoked cigars. The full-bodied, opulently fruited palate is laden with black fruit and earthy layers, supported by a solid foundation of firm, grainy tannins and fantastic freshness, finishing long and perfumed. It's tempting to drink now, but give it a good 5 years in bottle for maximum impact and drink it over the next 25 years or more. 2026 - 2051.
Blacker than black at the core. Super-intense and ripe but charry too. Thick, dense tannins, not harsh but so compact they need to unfurl. Savoury on the finish. Hard to believe the pH is as low 3.5 because the freshness is not particularly striking, but this is what I am told.
Drink 2025-2038
Inky black in the glass, with a nose of overripe banana, kirsch and sweet liquorice. The palate follows, with an extremely sweet, dense and jammy core that will only be for those who love the ripe, heady styles of the garagistes. Despite the sweetness and deep colour, the tannins are well managed, avoiding the puckering, rasping sensations that can often come with these wines. The chalky finish is bolstered by notes of danish pastries but is marked by warming alcohol.
(90 Merlot, 5 Cabernet Franc, 5 Cabernet Sauvignon) | 100% new oak | 14.56% alc | 30 hl/ha Ripe and full and very sour and tannic, at least there is some fruit sweetness here beneath the absurd levels of oak and tannin. The fruit is, in fact, very attractive, but I have no idea how it will make its way out of this oak prison.
This has a real mineral undertone this year with lots of dark-berry, cherry and blueberry character. Full-bodied, chewy and powerful. Excellent. Limestone coming through.
Grapes for this wine come from the plateau and were harvested October 3, with yields of 30 hectoliters per hectare. Composed of 90% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon with a 3.5 pH and 14.56% alcohol, the deep purple-black colored 2018 Bellevue Mondotte opens with alluring scents of Christmas cake, blueberry pie, chocolate-covered cherries and hoisin with nuances of Chinese five spice, iron ore, rose hip tea and cracked black pepper. Full-bodied, rich, opulent and totally decadent in the mouth, the palate has a plush texture and maintains that incredible freshness that defines these beautiful wines on the terrace—finishing with tons of spicy fireworks.
The 2018 Bellevue Mondotte is a blockbuster that just jumps out of the glass with its crème de cassis, crushed violets, blackberry, and licorice aromas and flavors. It's powerful, opulent, and massively textured, yet never over the top or too much. It has building tannins, no hard edges, and a great finish.
