Chateau Bellevue Mondotte, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2006
300cl £ 450 1 bottle available In Bond

This tiny, 5-acre vineyard with nearly 50-year old vines produces only 4,000 bottles from a blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. The broodingly tannic, backward 2006 is remarkably concentrated, pure, and deep. It is an amazing tour de force in winemaking, but like nearly all the Perse 2006s, it is a massively built vin de garde with no compromises meant for serious connoisseurs and long-term cellaring. Forget it for 7-8 years, and drink it over the following 25-30.

Deep, bright ruby. Flamboyant nose combines liquid graphite, tropical dark chocolate, licorice, violet and roasted oak. Dense and powerful if a bit youthfully musclebound, even monolithic, with superconcentrated dark fruit and chocolate liqueur flavors. This very full wine showed a lusher texture with air, with a total absence of any rough edges. Finishes with big, chewy, spreading tannins that reach the front teeth. A rock-solid and very impressive young Saint-Emilion that needs at least five years to burn off some of its baby fat.

(14.5% alcohol; 90% merlot with 5% each cabernet franc and sauvignon) Good bright ruby-red. Superripe aromas of blackberry, licorice and violet. Lush on entry, then large-scaled, tactile and rich, conveying an impression of fullness without heaviness. A distinctly muscular style of merlot with a powerful structure, but here the tannins are thoroughly ripe and the back end boasts terrific aromatic persistence. Very impressive.

Good medium ruby-red. Plum syrup, licorice, mocha, menthol and a whiff of beefsteak tomato on the nose. Sweet, lush and broad, with just enough underlying minerality to frame the black plum and licorice flavors. Impressively rich and powerful for the vintage. Finishes with broad, round tannins that reach the front teeth.

This tiny (5 acres; 4,000 bottles produced) jewel is the ultimate vin de garage estate. A blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon from 46-year old vines and incredibly low yields of 18 hectoliters per hectare, the 2006 flirts with perfection. It possesses amazing power, precision, elegance, purity, richness, and just about anything else anyone could desire in a young Bordeaux. It will require 5-6 years of bottle age, and should evolve for three decades or more. Bravo!

A super ripe black cherry and violet nose with oodles of vanillary new oak. Develops some nice dark chocolate and liquorish aromas. The palate is full-bodied with massive, 'grippy' tannins that like Pavie, desiccate the palate with its searing tannic finish that obliterates some attractive pure cassis-driven fruit underneath. It is like looking down upon a vast ocean of tannin and there at the bottom is a coral of beautiful wine. Impenetrable and hard-going. Tasted April 2007.

This tiny (5 acres; 4,000 bottles produced) jewel is the ultimate vin de garage estate. A blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon from 46-year old vines and incredibly low yields of 18 hectoliters per hectare, the 2006 flirts with perfection. It possesses amazing power, precision, elegance, purity, richness, and just about anything else anyone could desire in a young Bordeaux. It will require 5-6 years of bottle age, and should evolve for three decades or more. Bravo!

(just 4,500 bottles will be made from a crop level of just 18 hectoliters per hectare, according to owner Gerard Perse; harvested on October 1) Bright, deep ruby. Black cherry, licorice and minerals on the nose, along with an element of exotic tropical dark chocolate. Large-scaled, chewy and rich; in a somewhat extractive style but distinctly sweet and pliant, with sound... read more/less