Visiting Belle Brise was the longest visit (6 hours) and probably most interesting one bar Tertre Roteboeuf and L'Eglise Clinet visits, I experienced during 3 weeks of primeur and worth every minute of it. Actually, I already visited this property in 1996 and was utterly impressed, but for some reason I didn't go there between 1999 and 2013, so it was great to come back 14 years later and experience that its owner Henri-Bruno de Coincy, hasn't lost his touch and still has been producing great wines. He bought Belle Brise in the beginning of 1991.
The soil at Belle Brise is really exceptional - small pebbles and gravel on the surface, 1 m deep layer of clay mixed with “crasse de fer” at the top of chalk layer in the underground. These soil-conditions are very atypical and quite remarkable for the part of the district, which is section of Réne and Toulifaut on the western side of the N89 road dividing Pomerol, where you normally find much sand on the surface and very little of "crasse de fer" in the subsoil. There are 2 ha of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, and average age of vines is 35 years.
There is no chemical treatment of the vineyard. Late harvest, natural fermentation, no malolactic fermentation in barrels, no clariffication with egg-whites and no filtration - this is how things are done at Belle-Brise. 100% artisan winemaking without help of oenologist! The time of the harvest is according to end of full moon (going down – last quarter).
I tasted vintages 2012-2011-2010-2009-2007-2005 and had only superlatives to say about these.
2012 (33% new oak) had seductive cherry nose, velvety texture with silky fruit and tannin, sophisticated touch, finesse and impressive length. You simply couldn't taste tannin, which was packed in velvet. Fabulous balance. Stupendous effort for the vintage. 93-94p.
2011 (33%new oak) had incredibly intense nose of black cherries, silky fruit and tannin,finesse and elegance. Great complexity and length here. Very classy and stylish wine. Slightly less concentrated than 2012. 93p.
2010 (33%new oak) was a fantastic treat with excellent and incredibly intense blackcherries, sophisticated palate with fat velvety texture, perfect ripeness of silky fruit and tannin, stunning complexity, structure and length. What an achievement! Imho Belle Brise rivals Le Pin in this vintage. 96+p.
2009 had same style as 2010, less tight and dense than 2010, more red fruit and less black fruit here, incredible balance. Worth every point of 94p.
2007 was beautiful wine for the vintage, full of life, silky and velvety. Impressive ripeness of fruit and tannin, structure and length. 92p.
2005 displayed stunning intensity of blueberries and blackberries on the nose and concentration of same on thepalate, very, very truffy, perfect ripeness of fruit and tannin excellent structure and depth, refined and sophisticated, excellent complexity. Almost as fantastic as 2010, tannin are less fat here. 95-96p.
2010 and 2009 of Les Cedres de Belle Brise, second wine, were very drinkable, seductive and charming, silky stuff again and again. 87p.
Price of Belle Brise is between 70-100 €/bottle buthe's no problem with selling it as there's great demand for it in Japan and Switzerland and 3-4 stars restaurant in Paris have it on winelist in every vintage.
Since he was 16 years old, he's been producing fantastic Armagnac at family estate in the best part of appelation. His Armagnac undergoes double destillation (since 1973) while most producers there use one destillation.The name of his Armagnac is Fontaine de Coincy and it fetches prices from 200 € and up. He's Armagnac on stock back to 19th century. I tasted heavenly vintages 1979, 1973 and 1954, plus incredibly aromatic and orange influenced Fleur d'Armagnac a l'Orange.
THere's more on my website - profile of Belle Brise with pictures - Here's what I experienced one Saturday in April 2013:
Visiting Belle Brise was the longest visit (6 hours) and probably most interesting one bar Tertre Roteboeuf and L'Eglise Clinet visits, I experienced during 3 weeks of primeur and worth every minute of it. Actually, I already visited this property in 1996 and was very impressed, for some reason I didn't go there before 2013, so it was great to come back 17 years later and experience that its owner Henri-Bruno de Coincy, hasn't lost his touch and still has been producing great wines. He bought Belle Brise in the beginning of 1991.
The soil at Belle Brise is really exceptional - small pebbles and gravel on the surface, 1 m deep layer of clay mixed with “crasse de fer” at the top of chalk layer in the underground. These soil-conditions are very atypical and quite remarkable for the part of the district, which is section of Réne and Toulifaut on the western side of the N89 road dividing Pomerol, where you normally find much sand on the surface and very little of "crasse de fer" in the subsoil. There are 2 ha of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, and average age of vines is 35 years.
There is no chemical treatment of the vineyard. Late harvest, natural fermentation, no malolactic fermentation in barrels, no clariffication with egg-whites and no filtration - this is how things are done at Belle-Brise. 100% artisan winemaking without help of oenologist! The time ofthe harvest is according to end of full moon (going down – last quarter).
I tasted vintages 2012-2011-2010-2009-2007-2005 and had only superlatives to say about these.
2012 (33% new oak) had seductive cherry nose, velvety texture with silky fruit and tannin, sophisticated touch, finesse and impressive length. You simply couldn't taste tannin, which was packed in velvet. Fabulous balance. Stupendous effort for the vintage. 93-94p.
2011 (33%new oak) had incredibly intense nose of black cherries, silky fruit and tannin,finesse and elegance. Great complexity and length here. Very classy and stylish wine. Slightly less concentrated than 2012. 93p.
2010 (33%new oak) was a fantastic treat with excellent and incredibly intense blackcherries, sophisticated palate with fat velvety texture, perfect ripeness of silky fruit and tannin, stunning complexity, structure and length. What an achievement! Imho Belle Brise rivals Le Pin in this vintage. 96+p.
2009 had same style as 2010, less tight and dense than 2010, more red fruit and less black fruit here, incredible balance. Worth every point of 94p.
2007 was beautiful wine for the vintage, full of life, silky and velvety. Impressive ripeness of fruit and tannin, structure and length. 92p.
2005 displayed stunning intensity of blueberries and blackberries on the nose and concentration of same on thepalate, very, very truffy, perfect ripeness of fruit and tannin excellent structure and depth, refined and sophisticated, excellent complexity. Almost as fantastic as 2010, tannin are less fat here. 95-96p.
2010 and 2009 of Les Cedres de Belle Brise, second wine, were very drinkable, seductive and charming, silky stuff again and again. 87p.
Price of Belle Brise is between 70-100 €/bottle buthe's no problem with selling it as there's great demand for it in Japan and Switzerland and 3-4 stars restaurant in Paris have it on winelist in every vintage.
Since he was 16 years old, he's been producing fantastic Armagnac at family estate in the best part of appelation. His Armagnac undergoes double destillation (since 1973) while most producers there use one destillation.The name of his Armagnac is Fontaine de Coincy and it fetches prices from 200 € and up. He's Armagnac on stock back to 19th century. I tasted heavenly vintages 1979, 1973 and 1954, plus incredibly aromatic and orange influenced Fleur d'Armagnac a l'Orange.
There's more to read on my website - profile of Belle Brise with pictures - http://www.greatbordeauxwines.com/Belle%20Brise.html