Bellevue Mondotte - Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2007

Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

93 / 100

byStephen Tanzerthe8/30/2010

Saturated ruby. Very dark aromas of black fruits, violet, licorice and bitter chocolate, plus a sexy oak note of hickory smoke. Large-scaled, thick and sweet, with outrageous breadth for the year. Finishes with mouthcoating tannins and palate-staining black fruits. For all its sweetness and size, this wine manages to maintain impressive verve. (I should note that an earlier sample was at least as rich but more porty and roasted, with a distinctly unrefined character. Obviously, my score is for the better sample.)

Wine Advocate

94 / 100

byRobert Parkerthe4/30/2010

Very little wine is produced (about 400 cases) from this tiny 5-acre vineyard, but it is always among the most concentrated and richest of Bordeaux. The inky/purple -colored 2007 offers sweet cassis fruit notes interwoven with notions of graphite, chalk dust, and toast. Full-bodied with terrific purity and intensity (14.5% alcohol), it should drink well for 20+ years. Drink 2010-2030

Wine Spectator

90 / 100

byJames Sucklingthe3/31/2010

Dark-colored and very spicy, with meat, dark fruits and cigar box aromas. Full-bodied, with loads of fruit and masses of new wood. Impresses with its opulence and structure. Needs time in the bottle. Best after 2013.

Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

89-92 / 100

byStephen Tanzerthe6/30/2008

Bright ruby. Musky aromas of black raspberry and licorice. Chewy and supple but a bit unforthcoming, even stunted, today, and not yet showing much definition to its highly concentrated flavors of black fruits, licorice and minerals. Hard to taste now but there's excellent sweetness and solid underlying structure here. This wine always needs time, notes Gerard Perse, who told me that the crop level here in 2007 was just 25 hectoliters per hectare.

Falstaff

90-92 / 100

the6/30/2008

Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, fast opaker Kern, violette Reflexe. In der Nase eher verhalten, feine schwarze Beeren, ätherische Nuancen. Am Gaumen stoffig, sehr mineralisch, noch etwas verkapselt, die Tannine wirken etwas spröde, zart nach Bitterschokolade, ein eher monolithischer und eher strenger Stil, hat aber Reifepotenzial.

Wine Advocate

94-97 / 100

byRobert Parkerthe5/5/2008

TAST

16-17 / 20

the4/29/2008

Sans avoir la personnalité d’un Pavie, ce vin de prestige créé par Gérard Perse séduit ici par sa grande richesse en bouche, son caractère voluptueux et son ampleur fondante.

Wine Advocate

92-93 / 100

byNeal Martinthe4/28/2008

Well, not as over-the-top as the 2006, but the nose is still overdone for me, with black cherries, raspberries coulis, a touch of limestone and blackberry leaf. The palate is very tannic, but I think better balanced and with greater delineation than in previous vintages. Blackberries, minerals, loganberries with a certain minerality towards the finish. Very backward and primal, but certainly I warm to this much more than recent vintages. Tasted April 2008.

Jancis Robinson

17 / 20

byJancis Robinsonthe4/15/2008

Dark mulberry colour. Quite raw on the nose. Very rich and sweet at first and no dry elements. Well done! Thick and sweet and very modern but well judged. A real hedonist’s wine. For those who like seriously luscious modern wines in which you can stand a spoon up.