Wine of France / Bordeaux / Saint-Émilion / Château Bel-Air-Ouÿ

Château Bel-Air-Ouÿ - St. Émilion

This estate was purchased by self- and Parker-described mauvais garçon Jean-Luc Thunevin in the late 90’s and he made his first vintage here in 1999. Thunevin is considered one of the “founders” of the so-called garagiste winemaking movement in Bordeaux (mostly centered in St. Emilion). Many people feel this semi-rebellious movement really began with his 1991 creation of the vin de garage Château Valandraud. After this he acquired several more Bordeaux estates, as well as creating his own Bordeaux negociant business representing over 20 additional estates.

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Among Thunevin's properties, the Château Bel-Air-Ouÿ is a bit more traditional, as its origins date back to 1672. While describing himself as a modern winemaker, Thunevin believes in traditional farming, using no herbicides or insecticides and using cover crops. Here he uses the estate's mostly Merlot vines planted on soils of clay-limestone with some flint to make his impressive Saint-Émilion Grand Cru.

Photo courtesy of Studioastoria

It is Murielle, his wife, who oversees the most meticulous care given to these vines: size adapted to each foot, systematic stripping, green harvest to deliberately limit the number of clusters per foot. For his part, Jean-Luc seeks the optimal maturity of the grapes to start the harvest; he has also adopted Burgundy techniques of pigeage and batonnage on lees to obtain an optimal concentration. They are always seeking excellence and their wine is almost always generous and ripe.

Château Bel-Air-Ouÿ St. Émilion Grand Cru
This comes from clay and limestone soils and is made with 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 5% each of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon from vines averaging 30 years of age. The grapes are harvested by hand, vinified in temperature controlled stainless steel and then aged for 18 months in new oak. Annual production averages 20,000 bottles.

Says Neil Martin of The Wine Advocate: “The Château Bel-Air-Ouÿ 2014, essentially the third wine of Jean-Luc Thunevin's Chateau Valandraud, has a broad, quite voluminous bouquet with vivacious blueberries and blackberries. There is an attractive sense of purity here, quite floral and engaging. The palate is medium-bodied and fleshy on the entry, the acidity pointed and sharp leading to a brisk, punchy finish that should mellow throughout its barrel maturation. Fine wine."