Chateau Bellefont-Belcier Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classé 2016 i trækasse

James Suckling

Very fresh with fine dry tannins that carry the concentrated and ripe palate very nicely. I love the floral and currant bouquet that’s very enticing, in spite of the wine’s youth. Lots of blackcurrant and tobacco. A blend of 65 per cent merlot, 20 per cent cabernet franc and 15 per cent cabernet sauvignon.

Vinous

The 2016 Bellefont-Belcier is a powerful, muscular Saint-Émilion with huge tannins that wrap around a core of dark fruit. Graphite, melted road tar, dark cherry, smoke and leather add to an impression of pure virile power. It will be interesting to see if the 2 softens with time in bottle. Today, it is very much a bruiser. Tasted three times.

Jeb Dunnuck

The 2016 Château Bellefont-Belcier was truly brilliant on all three occasions I was able to taste it, rating 95 twice and 97 once. Coming from a 13.5-hectare vineyard on the magical Côte Pavie (it’s right next door to Larcis-Ducasse) and a blend of 65% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon aged 20 months in 80% new oak, it offers a black fruit-driven style as well as loads of black raspberries, black cherries, graphite, leafy herbs, and hints of incense. It's powerful, full-bodied, has building sweet tannins, and the rock star purity of fruit that's the hallmark of the vintage. It’s an awesome wine to drink over the coming 20-25 years.

Tastingbook.com

Falstaff

Dark ruby garnet, violet reflections, delicate lightening of the edges, fine black forest berry confit, dark cherry fruit, delicate precious wood spice, fine roasted aromas. Juicy, highly elegant, ripe sweet cherries, present, well-integrated tannins, some nougat, mineral notes on the finish, very good length, great promise for the future.

Robert Parker

The 2016 Bellefont Belcier is blended of 65% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon. It was aged for 20 months in 80% new and 20% in one-year-old barrels. Michel Rolland consults for this wine. Deep garnet-purple in color, it gives delicate dried flowers, garrigue, dusty soil and smoked meats over warm black plums and blackberry preserves with hints menthol. The palate is full-bodied, concentrated and muscular with a rock-solid structure and loads of layered black fruit in the mid-palate, with a lingering earthiness to the finish.

Vert de Vin Magazine

The nose is elegant. It reveals notes of blackberry, toasted notes and small notes of grilled bread, crushed cassis combined with small touches of crushed red fruits as well as very discreet hints of Sichuan pepper, sweet spices and an imperceptible hint of violet and vanilla. The palate is fruity, well-balanced and offers a good definition, a beautiful straightness, a small juicy / acidulous frame, fat, suavity, finesse, a beautiful finesse of the grain as well as a fine minerality. On the palate this wine expresses notes of fleshy blackberry and fleshy cassis associated with small touches of fleshy raspberry, fleshy small fruits, licorice, small toasted touches and a very discreet hint of grilled bread and spices. Tannins are elegant. Good length.

Jean-Marc Quarin

Markus del Monego MW

Wine Spectator

Warm and lush in feel, delivering soft-edged fig, boysenberry and blackberry compote flavors infused liberally with ganache and black licorice accents. Ample toast hints drape over the finish, and this is definitely accessible, but a good buried graphite note should also help it develop with a bit of cellaring. Drink now through 2032

Antonio Galloni

The 2016 Bellefont-Belcier is a powerful, muscular Saint-Émilion with huge tannins that wrap around a core of dark fruit. Graphite, melted road tar, dark cherry, smoke and leather add to an impression of pure virile power. It will be interesting to see if the 2 softens with time in bottle. Today, it is very much a bruiser. Tasted three times.