1966 | Château Belgrave | Haut-Medoc

Detailed Description

The wine expresses all the finesse and personality of this great terroir. Dense and deep, it is distinguished by its ageing capacity, its aromatic complexity and its very Saint-Julien character.

Producer Information

Château Belgrave is a Bordeaux wine estate and classified fifth growth château in the Haut-Médoc appellation, close to the border with Saint-Julien. Its grand vin is a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant red blend with Merlot and, historically, Cabernet Franc, though this has recently been replaced with small amounts of Petit Verdot. The estate was classed as a Fifth Growth in the 1855 classification of the Médoc and Graves, but was known as Château Coutanceau at the time and throughout the 19th Century. The Coutanceau family owned the estate when the wines began to gain recognition in the early 1800s. “Bellegrave” began appearing on bottles in 1845, when the estate was restructured by Bordeaux négocaint Bruno Devès. He built new winery facilities, tank rooms and the château as it stands today, constructed around a hunting pavilion that dated back to the reign of King Louis XV. Château Blegrave finally became the name of the estate in the early 20th Century. The property covers 59 hectares (145 acres) of vineyards, separated from its neighbor Château Lagrange and the Saint-Julien appellation by a stream. The vines are planted in deeply set gravel above clay subsoils. A clay outcrop and sandy soils with high gravel and pebble composition were deposited by the ancient course of the Garonne River. The estate began producing its second wine, Diane de Belgrave, in 1987. This is Merlot dominant and roughly an inverse blend of the Cabernet Sauvignon-led grand vin.