Château Belle-Vue enjoyed a very good reputation at the end of the 19th century and won many awards : Gold Metal in Amsterdam in 1895, as well as silver medals in Brussels (1897), Paris (1900) and Bordeaux (1907).
From 1966 until 1996, Château Belle-Vue was part of Château de Gironville and all the vines were sold under the Gironville label. Since then, the cellars at Belle-Vue have been renovated and the estate now produces its own wine. Over the last vintages, notably since 1999, the wines of Château Belle-Vue have been regularly distinguished with honours and medals in wine competition and in teh international press.
The 9,73-hectare vineyard is located on a plateau with deep gravely soil (7-10 metres) adjacent to Château Giscours (Margaux AOC). The soil is naturally well-drained, enabling the grapes to rape early.

GRAPE VARIETIES : 42 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 33 % Merlot Noir, 20 % Petit Verdot, 3% Carménère (experimental production starting with the 2004 vintage).

AVERAGE AGE OF VINES : 30 years
(the oldest vines were planted in 1907)

DENSITY OF VINES : 6.666 vines/hectare

Pest management
Traditionnal viticultural practices, including cover cropping
Bud prunning, suckering, and leaf thinning.

HARVESTING
The fruit is hand-picked and hand-sorting after destemming.

FERMENTATION AND MACERATION
Stainless steel vats : 80-150 hl.
Pigeages (the cap is punched down three times a day during fermentation).
The wine spends 4 to 6 weeks on the skins.

MALOLACTIC FERMENTATION
Half part in new oak barrels.

14-16 months.
80% new oak barrels.
Selected, ultrafine grain Hungarian and Troinçais oak from the cooper Vicard in Cognac.
Several ageing experiments are being carried out at Belle-Vue.
Bâtonnage - the wine is regularly stirred in order to keep the lees in suspension.

Fining with fresh egg white, no filtration.

Alliant finesse et puissance, le Château BELLE-VUE est souvent qualifié de vin "hédoniste" par les oenophiles éclairés. Un vin dont l'équilibre repose sur une palette aromatique originale.
Parmi les raisons de cette particularité, un choix de cépages où le Petit Verdot constitue 20 % de l'encépagement total, le Cabernet Sauvignon 42 % et le Merlot Noir 38 %.
Presque aussi ancien que les Cabernets dans le Bordelais, parfaitement adapté au terroir du Sud-Médoc, le Petit Verdot apporte une grande richesse tannique et aussi cette acidité qui donne tant d'esprit et d'élégance aux grands vins.
Dans la même lignée d'innovation, le millésime 2004 comprend dans son assemblage 2% d'un vieux cépage bordelais, la Carménère, permettant d'enrichir encore la palette aromatique des vins de BELLE-VUE par son côté épicé et fin.

Nous vous invitons à visiter notre site : www.chateau-belle-vue.com pour découvrir tous nos vins.