Château Belle-Vue Haut-Médoc, Cru Bourgeois 2016

Presentation

Owners : Héritiers Vincent Mulliez
Managing Director : Isabelle Mulliez
Estate manager : Jérôme Pineau
Technical consultant : Vincent Bache-Gabrielsen
Œnologist adviser : Christophe Coupez
Planted acreage : 14,58 ha - 6 666 vines/ha

The vintage

Our Merlot grapes were picked up between the 3rd and the 6th of October and expressed freshness, intensity and complexity. We then waited until the 14th of October to harvest our Cabernet sauvignon grapes at a perfect stage of balance between tannic, velvety and aromatic strength. The Petit Verdot grapes, once more exceptional, reached their full maturity between the 15th and the 22nd of October. Freshness, density, velvety, complexity and aromatic opening are describing the 2016 vintage as all Bordeaux’s Top vintages are described. One key word of this vintage : balance!

Location

Le Chateau Belle-Vue est situé sur la commune de Macau, très proche de nombreux Grand Cru classé du médoc.

Terroir

Château Belle-Vue is located in the surroundings of Macau, very close to many Medoc’s Grands Crus Classés, on a deep rough gravely soil.

In the vineyard

- H.V.E Certificate : High Environmental and Agricultural good practices acknowledgment.
- Severe pruning favouring aeration to provide an homogenous repartition of grapes. Disbudding and bud splitting. Thinning out the leaves on both sides. Cleaning up.
- Integral soil work by grass growing , to encourage the vines roots to grow deeper in order to obtain the best expression of Terroir.

Winemaking

During the vinification, the extraction is done as gently as possible :
- Cold pre-ferment maceration (0 ° C) for 10 days.
- Exclusive use of release by gravity, the juice is re-send by sprinkling on to the grappa witch prevents it from destructure.
- Post-ferment maceration: 20 days on average at 28 ° C to refine the tannins.