95-
96
JAMES SUCKLING: "An intense, full-bodied red with lots of fruit and dark chocolate. Round and juicy tannins. Flavorful finish. Very rich. Salt and minerals. Pure merlot."
94-
96
JEB DUNNUCK: "The 2021 Bellevue Mondotte offers an almost Pomerol-like nose of damp earth and chocolate as well as beautiful notes of tobacco, chalky mineral, graphite, and assorted red and blue fruits. It's another medium to full-bodied, balanced wine from this team that has a great mid-palate as well as ripe tannins."
93-
95
THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Deeply colored, the wine already expresses flowers, minerals, dark red pit fruits, licorice and cocoa. On the palate, there is freshness, energy, ripe, dark berries, sweetness to fruits and salinity. There is a good concentration and depth of flavor. The fruits are juicy, ripe and sweet, with blackberries, citrus and cocoa with a touch of spice in the endnote. This is the second vintage produced from 100% old vine Merlot. 14.81% ABV. Drink from 2026-2050."
92
DECANTER: "Perfumed, incredibly floral with ripe black fruits. The aromatics are striking, the florality - like a wildflower garden. The florality continues on the palate, the sweet, rich blackcurrants and black cherries mixing with violets and liquorice - pure old-vine Merlot on limestone. You get the tension and the linearity here as well as the softly chewy tannins that really do fill the mouth - it is taut with precise energy that is coiled up right now like a spring, just showing a few hints of fruit, acidity, spice and aromatic intensity. A dark style, the liquorice on the mid-palate growing in layers and layers, yet all quite precise and tight. This has good potential with a lovely terroir signature."
92
FALSTAFF: "Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, tiefer Kern, violette Reflexe, dezente Randaufhellung. Zart nach Gewürznelken, feine Edelholznuancen, schwarze Frucht, zart nach Cassis und Brombeeren. Komplex, saftig, zarte Fruchtsüße, würzig, reife, tragende Tannine, etwas Nougat im Abgang, zart blättriger Gerbstoff, salzig im Nachhall, wird von Flaschenreife profitieren."
90-
92
LISA PERROTTI-BROWN: "The 2021 Bellevue Mondotte is 100% Merlot, aging in 90% new oak. Deep garnet-purple in color, it charges out with vibrant scents of black raspberries, plum preserves, and wild blueberries plus wafts of tobacco, dried sage, and underbrush. Medium-bodied, the palate is tightly wound, with firm, grainy tannins supporting the vibrant black fruits, finishing long and earthy. Yields were only 26.56 hl/ha because of the very old vines (64 years old). pH 3.62."
