"Score: 87-89+. This hard, austere, highly extracted 2011 was tas..."
Score: 87-89+. This hard, austere, highly extracted 2011 was tasted on two separate occasions. Both times it appeared to be coming off malolactic fermentation, and was thus not showing all its best characteristics. Certainly Bellevue’s vineyard is fabulously situated, and readers looking for a striking chalkiness and austere, angular style will do no better than this. Yields were only 20 hectoliters per hectare, and the brilliant Hubert de Bouard is the consulting oenologist at this estate. The 2011 is tight and closed, and no matter how hard I tried, it was very difficult to get a bead on which direction it might go. This is another 2011 that will be more interesting to taste from bottle.
