2020 Chateau Belgrave 5eme Cru Classe, Haut-Medoc

Very pretty and fresh with blackberry and blueberry aromas. Some flowers, too. It’s medium-to full-bodied with round, polished tannins and a vivid finish.

(53% CS, 44% M, 3% PV)
Faintly wild-rose nobly herbal, the freshly ripe Merlot to the fore? Full, fresh, firmly but finely tannic; a nice richness freshly defined, the Dourthe “very ripe fruit-abundant” signature, with a light gravel background, an almost citrussy freshness, all nicely integrated, and with good fruit-fragrant length. A fine Belgrave. As with all the Dourthe reds, this is typically richly fruit-emphatic, the wines have sufficient structure to age well, and they regularly represent very fair red-Bordeaux drinking value, especially in top vintages like 2020. The 2005 Belgrave, for example, is an absolutely delicious glass at 15 years of age, and with years to go, improvements to come.
2025–40+.

Tasted by Jane Anson (at Primeur week tastings in Bordeaux, 01 May 2021)

Sappy and muscular black fruits here, you really get the impression that the tannins and colour components in the grapes have been searched for and gently coaxed out. Tobacco leaf and redcurrant aromatics arrive that show the fruits are not as exuberant as in some years, but this has been well handled and carefully balanced. 32% new oak for ageing.

Drinking Window 2024 - 2040

Medium-bodied, fresh, crisp, juicy and savory, with a nice chewy quality to the medium-bodied, sweet, ripe fruits on the palate and in the finish, this should age and develop quite nicely. 90-92

The 2020 Belgrave is a promising Haut-Médoc. Graphite, scorched earth, cloves, licorice and lavender create a deep, penetrating bouquet. There is good depth and energy here, even if the 2020 remains just a bit lean. All the Belgrave needs is a bit more midpalate juiciness. Tasted two times.

vinous.com

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2020 Belgrave gives up expressive scents of crushed red and black currants, ripe cranberries and bay leaves with touches of pencil lead, wild mushrooms and tree bark. The medium-bodied palate has a lively backbone and loads of herbal sparks lifting the red and black fruits, framed by soft, approachable tannins, finishing savory.

Full bottle 1,336 g. Cask sample taken 2 April. 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot. 32% new oak. Partial malo in barrel. Deep purple-crimson, like elderberry juice. An attractive first impression of stone dust, with woody spice and non-sweet very dark fruit. Smells dark and rocky and elegant. Firm, dry and savoury on the palate too, the tannins chewy but lots of fine layers rather than a mass. Fresh and dry on the finish with a sinewy refinement that is so characteristic of left-bank bordeaux. (JH)