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Domaine de Bellevue (Jerome Bretaudeau)

2020 Domaine de Bellevue (Jerome Bretaudeau), Ornate, VdF

France Merlot 750ML
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2020 Domaine de Bellevue (Jerome Bretaudeau), Ornate, VdF
Domaine de Bellevue (Jerome Bretaudeau)

2020 Domaine de Bellevue (Jerome Bretaudeau), Ornate, VdF

France Merlot 750ML
/

The Merlot "Ornate" caught my eye after a couple of inquiries recently...I admittedly had no idea this wine existed. From a 0.5 hectare plot of 20+ year-old Merlot planted to granite-quartz soils, the wine is aged in used Burgundy barrels for 18 months. Honestly, it took me a minute to wrap my head around - Merlot with undeniable lift to those classic dark berry and plum flavors, the subtle herbs coming through and clarified by what can only be described as crystalline minerals - like, close your eyes and see pure crystals of quartzite. 

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When seemingly the entire rest of the world is going from the dominant red grapes to brighter, nontraditional whites, here is Jerome bringing all our traditional fine red grape varieties back, but taking a different spin on them way up in the Loire's Muscadet region, an area forever known as the land of wines made for oysters and not much else. Yes, he does embrace the region's most famous grape, known as Melon de Bourgogne, but more than 10% of his biodynamically-farmed vineyards are dedicated to what in this area you'd dub "experimental" varieties like Merlot, Pinot Gris, Cabernet Sauvignon and so on, all crafted thoughtfully and expertly.

Domaine de Bellevue (Jerome Bretaudeau)

Jerome launched his career as a young man working for a conventionally-farmed estate, and got plenty of "reps" early on before pondering what he could do better with his own vineyard land. In 2001, he managed to get his hands on on two hectares in the Loire village Gétigné, which within 4 years he had broadened to six hectares of vineyards.

Interestingly, his harvests are not done purely by site - he will harvest each plot according to the vine age so he can best get a sense for the personality of each vine. His biodynamically-farmed vineyards sit atop soils of sand and silt, with a great amount of gabbro interspersed. This is a local phenomenon of sorts, a black igneous rock that is similar to basalt, and provides a distinct mineral strike to the wines of the region, and a brilliant layer of spice as well to his reds.

Jerome will separate his old-vine Melon wines according to the soil types, and vinify them differently. All wines ferment in tank, but the Gaïa will see time in amphorae as well. Perrieres will be aged on its lees longer (18-24 months) to soften, while the Gabbro sees about 10 months of elevage on its lees.

He will play with skin-maceration, whole clusters and infusion, but the progam here focuses on long, slow fermentations to create the greatest amount of complexity and finesse. Indigenous yeasts are used for all production, and even the Melon wines will go through malo-lactic. These are all wines chock full of personality and grace.

With a winemaker as thoughtful and obviously talented as Bretaudeau, this could be the future place for the Bordeaux grapes, so long as he serves as the winemaking czar for the entirety of the region. 

Meet the Producer

Domaine de Bellevue (Jerome Bretaudeau)

When seemingly the entire rest of the world is going from the dominant red grapes to brighter, nontraditional whites, here is Jerome bringing all our traditional fine red grape varieties back, but taking a different spin on them way up in the Loire's Muscadet region, an area forever known as the land of wines made for oysters and not much else. Yes, he does embrace the region's most famous grape, known as Melon de Bourgogne, but more than 10% of his biodynamically-farmed vineyards are dedicated to what in this area you'd dub "experimental" varieties like Merlot, Pinot Gris, Cabernet Sauvignon and so on, all crafted thoughtfully and expertly.

Jerome launched his career as a young man working for a conventionally-farmed estate, and got plenty of "reps" early on before pondering what he could do better with his own vineyard land. In 2001, he managed to get his hands on on two hectares in the Loire village Gétigné, which within 4 years he had broadened to six hectares of vineyards.

Interestingly, his harvests are not done purely by site - he will harvest each plot according to the vine age so he can best get a sense for the personality of each vine. His biodynamically-farmed vineyards sit atop soils of sand and silt, with a great amount of gabbro interspersed. This is a local phenomenon of sorts, a black igneous rock that is similar to basalt, and provides a distinct mineral strike to the wines of the region, and a brilliant layer of spice as well to his reds.

Jerome will separate his old-vine Melon wines according to the soil types, and vinify them differently. All wines ferment in tank, but the Gaïa will see time in amphorae as well. Perrieres will be aged on its lees longer (18-24 months) to soften, while the Gabbro sees about 10 months of elevage on its lees.

He will play with skin-maceration, whole clusters and infusion, but the progam here focuses on long, slow fermentations to create the greatest amount of complexity and finesse. Indigenous yeasts are used for all production, and even the Melon wines will go through malo-lactic. These are all wines chock full of personality and grace.

With a winemaker as thoughtful and obviously talented as Bretaudeau, this could be the future place for the Bordeaux grapes, so long as he serves as the winemaking czar for the entirety of the region. 

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