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Friday 11 December 2009

Clare and I went to see Caroline and Anwar Hussein, owners of Chateau Fontcaille Bellevue in the Entre Deux Mers today.

Clare, our Bordeaux buyer, discovered and has been buying from this great value little Chateau for our customers for many years, so I was delighted to go and have look myself.

The Château grows 100% black grapes made up of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon which is quite rare for the Entre-Deux-Mers. But due to their unique pocket of terroir the black varieties are better suited. We were met by Caroline and Anwar who introduced us to Jean-Louis, their Oenologue and the cellar master who keeps the vineyards and cellar in perfect order.

We were here today to get a first glance and taste of the 2009. We tasted the different vats and they were absolutely superb and a true example of the sheer quality of the 2009 vintage. This little Château is always consistent and never disappoints but my money is certainly on some of the 2009 already!

Caroline and Anwar very kindly invited me for lunch but due to the Chai being in full swing today, I sadly had to decline and rush back to help Chris with our mammoth task of blending the 2009 Chai unmentionables – including the CY, VC, JMS. I can now reveal that I have made an all new Vent de Folie Blanc – my big 2009 vintage secret is finally out. But you’ll just have to wait and see what grape variety it’s made from!

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1 comment:

Unknown said...

Very interesting to read, as I spent my holidays there in 1998, when the owners were Jean-Marie and Maryvonne Mesnier. The building is beautiful, I slept in the room to the right of the entrance.

But I also witnessed the hard labour involved in creating a good wine!