{"title":"Chateau Bellefont Belcier","description":"\u003cp\u003eBellefont-Belcier sits on one of the best stretches of Saint-Émilion's côtes: south-facing clay-limestone slopes in Saint-Laurent-des-Combes, between Larcis Ducasse and Tertre Rôteboeuf, two of the appellation's most admired estates.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe property goes back to the late 18th century and Count Louis-François de Belcier, and the \"belle font\" in the name refers to the springs on the land. The Faure family owned it for more than a century from the 1870s and built its circular, gravity-fed winery, which lets the fruit and wine move without pumping. A new team bought it in 1994 and restructured the vineyard, and in 2006 the estate was promoted to Grand Cru Classé. After several changes of ownership in the 2010s, Hong Kong businessman Peter Kwok bought it in late 2017 and added it to his Vignobles K group of Right Bank estates.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe vineyard covers about fourteen hectares, running from the limestone plateau down to sandier clay at the foot of the slope, and is planted mostly to Merlot with Cabernet Franc and a little Cabernet Sauvignon. The wines are dark-fruited and fleshy, with licorice, earth and a mineral thread from the limestone. With age they settle into the savory, truffly register of mature Right Bank Merlot.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"chateau-bellefont-belcier-saint-emilion-2005","title":"Chateau Bellefont Belcier, Saint-Emilion, 2005","description":"A twenty-year-old Saint-Emilion from a hillside sandwiched between Larcis Ducasse and Tertre Roteboeuf, with Pavie next door and Troplong Mondot on the plateau above — which is to say some of the most expensive dirt in the commune, in a bottle that has never carried those names' prices. The estate sits in Saint-Laurent-des-Combes on the plateau and its south-facing slope, and its 14 contiguous hectares split into three distinct terroirs: limestone plateau, clay-limestone slope, and clay-sand at the foot. The house plants to those soils rather than to a formula, with Merlot dominant at 72% of plantings, Cabernet Franc 17% and Cabernet Sauvignon 11%, and the name itself comes from the springs hidden in the hillside that the vines root into — belle font, the beautiful fountain. Worth noting that the 2005 was made before Bellefont-Belcier was promoted to Grand Cru Classe in the 2006 classification, so this is the wine that earned the upgrade rather than the one that traded on it. It's mature now and drinking squarely in its window, which is the whole reason to buy an older Bordeaux rather than wait a decade on a young one.","brand":"Acker Merrall \u0026 Condit [AC]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46531323461689,"sku":"NYC-A-AKALASKA0926-091726-11-3","price":79.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0125\/1518\/0601\/files\/Chateau-Bellefont-Belcier-Saint-Emilion-2005-Red-Wine-Flatiron-Wines-Spirits-New-York.jpg?v=1789722054"}],"url":"https:\/\/nyc.flatiron-wines.com\/collections\/chateau-bellefont-belcier.oembed","provider":"Flatiron Wines \u0026 Spirits NYC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}