This is very minerally with a warm stone and berry character. Full body, with polished tannins and a long finish. Almost all Merlot.

This has range, but stays suave, offering creamy-edged blackberry and blueberry fruit, with gentle spice and toast shadings and a very nicely melded feel on the finish. This has power in reserve.¯J.M.

This hard, austere, highly extracted 2011 was tasted on two separate occasions. Both times it appeared to be coming off malolactic fermentation, and was thus not showing all its best characteristics. Certainly Bellevue’s vineyard is fabulously situated, and readers looking for a striking chalkiness and austere, angular style will do no better than this. Yields were only 20 hectoliters per hectare, and the brilliant Hubert de Bouard is the consulting oenologist at this estate. The 2011 is tight and closed, and no matter how hard I tried, it was very difficult to get a bead on which direction it might go. This is another 2011 that will be more interesting to taste from bottle.

The Bellevue 2011 has a modest, timid bouquet that demands coaxing from the glass, with notes of blackberry and cassis fruit; all tightly wound at present. The palate is medium-bodied with an oaky entry. This has good weight, perhaps driven more by the wood than the fruit at the moment, although the finish has decent focus even if the finish is rather dry. Tasted April 2012.