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. WM. "Hidden in the southwest corner of Pomerol, 1km from Libourne, Château Belle-Brise is just 2 hectares in size (65 year old vines of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc) and with similar production levels to Château Le Pin, so elusive is it that it is basically unknown to the general public. However, within the upper echelons of the world’s greatest restaurants, the wines have an intense following and demand. A visit to 3 star restaurants in France (18 in total serve Belle-Brise Pomerol), Switzerland and Tokyo has been the only opportunity to savor these exceptional wines as the wines are sold neither En Primeur nor through the Bordeaux négociants. The vineyard soils are made up of small pebbles and gravel on the surface with a 1m layer of clay mixed with ‘crasse de fer’ atop a deeper layer of chalk. Viticulture and vinification are biodynamic and organic with only natural, indigenous yeast fermentation in concrete vats (no thermo-regulation) and spend a year ageing in 400 litre oak barrels, of which only a third are new. Thanks to the great talents of Henri-Bruno de Coincy, owner and wine-maker, and his remarkable estate, this is small lot, artisan winemaking at its finest and the wines are very untraditional for Bordeaux. Bruno even hires 50 pickers to pick the entire 2 ha. vineyard in a single day, on what he deems to be the perfect day of ripeness. Stylistically, they are much more like a fine Burgundy from Chambolle-Musigny and almost impossible to source, they are arguably more exclusive than either Petrus or Le Pin." Weygandt-Metzler |