Only a case or two breach the Château’s cellar doors each vintage. Annual production from the two hectares of walled garden vineyard in Pomerol’s southwest corner amounts to a mere 12,000 bottles. For those who have even heard of Château Belle-Brise, their best chance of drinking the wine would be at one of a cluster of Michelin-starred restaurants in the likes of Monaco, Switzerland and Tokyo. Unless, of course, you are reading this.
Dear Reader,
Wine has been made at Château Belle-Brise since the 18th century but until 1991, it was never commercially available (only sold to family and friends). Henri-Bruno de Coincy, 20th generation of a Cognac-producing family going back over 700 years, purchased the property in 1991. The two hectares are planted to about 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, and at each harvest time, it takes a team of just 50 people to pick all two hectares in one day.
With production levels similar to Château Le Pin (also of Pomerol), the wines are very untraditional for Bordeaux. Stylistically, this artisanal Pomerol is silky with tremendous depth – that kind of finesse and power you expect from the best red burgundies.
The Merlot and Cabernet Franc vines (with the oldest vines having been planted between the two World Wars) are co-planted and all work is done by hand or by horse. Grapes are picked and sorted by hand. Both alcoholic and malolactic fermentations take place in cement tanks, and after a month, the wine is racked to 400-litre barrels (a third new, second-fill and third-fill) for one year. The intent here is avoid any overt oak influence on the wine. Belle-Brise were the first to use these sized barrels in Pomerol.
As you can imagine by now, we did not receive very much wine. But, of what we did bring in, it is across four vintages: 2014, 2018, 2019 and 2020. The wines are packaged in original wooden cases (as pictured in the header), but loose bottles are available to allow for a selection across all four vintages.
This is a very special addition to our Bordeaux offering and one we can look forward to sharing more of with our customers. Great Domaines is the exclusive importer and distributor of Château Belle-Brise in South Africa.
Château Belle-Brise
Pomerol
2014
Appellation Pomerol Controlée
R 2,995 per bottle
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Château Belle-Brise
Pomerol
2018
Appellation Pomerol Controlée
R 2,995 per bottle
Château Belle-Brise
Pomerol
2019
Appellation Pomerol Controlée
R 2,995 per bottle
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Château Belle-Brise
Pomerol
2020
Appellation Pomerol Controlée
R 2,995 per bottle
