Château Belgrave

Black berry, blackcurrant and crushed stone aromas and flavors, medium to full body. Creamy, velvety tannins.

Juicy, forward, bright and vibrant this has a great energy straight away, crisp and tannic, but well integrated so you get almost a bouncy palate with flint edges giving minerality and acidity providing the lift. Feels detailed and precise, lovely definition to the overall frame and this carries to a long finish. Impressive, I like the strength and the focus and it doesn't feel overripe or too extracted. So much to like about this wine with subtle liquorice, mint and crushed stone aspects. This will be excellent. HVE3 certified. Ageing 12 months in 29% new oak barrels, 6 batches in amphora. Harvest 12 September - 1 October. Tasted twice.

The 2022 Belgrave is a bold, powerful Haut-Médoc. Grilled herbs, gravel, leather, tobacco and game add quite a bit of savory complexity. Big, imposing tannins add to an impression of virile intensity. In 2022, the winemaking team opted to co-ferment some lots, using Merlot to soften some of the formidable Cabernet Sauvignon tannins. Yields were less than 30 hectoliters per hectare, low for the estate's historical standards. A recent bottle of the 2010 was incredibly youthful. Tasted two times.

The 2022 Belgrave has a rich and generous bouquet with complex blackberry, raspberry, scorched earth and light leathery scents. The palate is medium-bodied and lightly spiced with succulent tannins, a firm grip and a dash of black pepper on the finish. A pretty "ballsy" Belgrave, but it should age well in bottle.

Dark fruit with a hint of oak spice. Layered fruit and plenty of freshness. Tannins finely honed. Length and persistence. Well-constructed, classic Haut-Médoc.

Plenty of graphite and ink notes, cassis and bilberry fruits, firm tannic frame and a juicy finish. 32hl/h yield. Co-fermented Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon because they were unusually ripe at the same time, harvest from September 12 to 28. 3.72ph. Extensive vineyard work over past few years with cover crops, mulching, organic general cover to keep temperature low has helped maintain this attractive freshness and sense of subdued confidence. 25% new oak.

Le vin se montre sérieux, avec une matière compacte et des tanins abondants. L’ensemble est, à ce stade, assez rigide, mais l’élevage devrait l’arrondir et l’assouplir.

Un nez très expressif et fruité, sur la confiture de framboise, floral aussi sur le lias, la jacinthe. Le palais se révèle aérien, fluide, la trame tannique se dessine en fin de bouche, après des saveurs d’épices douces, de poivre frais et de zestes. Un ensemble élégant et savoureux.

Black currants, chocolate, licorice and espresso fill the perfume. On the palate, the wine is fresh, sweet, creamy and polished. The tannins are soft, the fruit is sweet, and pure, with ample lift in the finish. This is the best vintage of Belgrave I have ever tasted! Drink from 2026-2042.

This is a combative and energetic Belgrave loaded with ambition and drive. The nose is superb, and the fruit is somewhat restless as it considers how it will progress.  Whatever happens, this is a wine with a bright and long future. The oak integration is excellent, and I can imagine that the amphorae inclusion has helped tighten the brightness on the finish, making this a long, savoury and enticing wine.

Superbe bouquet qui se profile non seulement au niveau intensité mais dans la complexité. Il révèle des nuances épicées, florales et fruitées, avec délicatesse. Notes de cassis suivies d'une touche de graphite. En bouche le vin est dense, compact et soutenu par des tannins puissants aux grains fins, parfaitement intégrés. Ils sont en phase avec la structure acide et la symbiose est donc assurée. Belle persistance.

This blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot has some good fruit concentration on the nose, with perfumed black cherry, damson and violets, very much in the scented and floral style of the vintage. A cool, reserved, silky and textured start to the palate follows, with a medium-bodied substance in the middle, the tannins finely grained and integrated, hanging together well, with appropriate acidity and freshness. This estate always flies under the radar but offers good value drinking, and the 2022 should fit that bill. If the price is right, buyers with cool cellars will not be disappointed. [...]

Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, opaker Kern, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung. Zarte Kräuterwürze, reife rote Kirschen, etwas Cassis, ein Hauch von Nelken, helles Nugat. Mittlere Komplexität, rotbeerige Nuancen, saftige Kirschfrucht, integrierte Tannine, mineralisch, gute Frische, schokoladig im Abgang, vielversprechendes Potenzial.

Château Belgrave has once again shone in the 2022 vintage, following its impressive performance in 2020. This wine boasts a rich yet clear aroma, with dancing blueberries and cream cherries in the glass. The palate is juicy and vibrant, the tannins are ample but not heavy; it feels like a cashmere ball gliding on my taste buds. Of note, the vintage of 2022 offers a graceful and refined violet fragrance that I have never encountered before. This elegance gives the concentrated wine a statuesque presence, as if it a dancer with a graceful figure.

Dark purple colour with violet hue and black core. Well structured nose with multi-layered character displaying aromas reminiscent of ripe blackcurrants and blackberries, mulberries and juicy plums. Refined floral hints blackcurrants spurs, elegant spiciness and discreet toasting in the background. On the palate well balanced with ripe tannins, elegant fruit, quite character with freshness and excellent length. The best Belgrave tasted en primeur.

Le poivre blanc de Penja apporte ses notes fumées à une confiture de fruits noirs, tandis que des arômes de foin et de roses anciennes expriment leur parfum opulent. La bouche est juteuse et généreuse avec des notes de fruits rouges mûrs à point. La finale sapide contribue à la réussite.

L'équipe Dourthe a beaucoup investi pour mettre Belgrave à haut niveau et le millésime 2022 est une sorte de consécration. La robe est presque noire avec de beaux arômes de mûres. Le vin est souple et tenu par un merlot charmeur, mais la belle fraîcheur en milieu de bouche vient de ses magnifiques cabernets sauvignon qui apportent une belle finale sur la myrtille. Beau vin.

Located close to Calon Ségur on an outcrop of deep Garonne clay and gravel, Le Boscq has performed exceptionally well in 2022. The nose is complex: dark tobacco, pencil lead, vine smoke, and even a hint of truffle. Very appealing; very St-Estèphe. The palate continues in the same vein; with solid but not astringent tannins and a real depth of fruit, Sichuan pepper and licorice in support. A good example of what I might again dare to call enlightened austerity.

Nice lift on the nose. Quite a precise fruit profile here – loganberries, raspberries and brambles; a little blackcurrant leaf too, accentuating the sense of lift. Pure and direct, a little note of sous bois and a touch of graphite (but no more). Bright, lively, crunchy berry fruit – again loganberry is the most prominent. Structured by the Cabernet tannins and the acidity. Very fresh, with just a hint of astringency perhaps, but undoubtedly sapid and gently rolling on the finish with excellent length. Nice harmony if not the complexity of the greatest of the classed growths, a success nonetheless.

Le poivre blanc du Penja apporte ses notes fumées à une confiture de fruits noirs, tandis que des arômes de foin et de roses anciennes expriment leur parfum opulent. La bouche est juteuse et généreuse avec des notes de fruits rouges mûrs à point. La finale sapide participe à une réussite.

Diskrete, aber verführerische Aromatik frischer Beeren; fruchtiger Auftakt, saftige Entwicklung, Tannin mit Pep, ideale Länge; ausgezeichnet gemacht im Stil des Crus und des Jahres.