Bordeaux, France
Saint-Émilion Grand Cru AOP
The Pueyo family has owned Château Belregard-Figeac in Saint Émilion since 1853. Christophe Pueyo, the 5th generation to work this land, took control of the domaine from his father and uncle in 2010, and has since converted the estate to organic viticulture and ushered in a new low intervention approach in the cellar, fermenting spontaneously with indigenous yeast, replacing many of the barriques with demi-muids and foudres (and the occasional amphora), and limiting sulphur additions. Certified organic since 2013, they began practicing biodynamics in 2017. He has also expanded the family's holdings and the domaine now comprises 21 ha of vines total, both in Saint Émilion and the Bordeaux AOC.
A blend of 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged in a mix of concrete tanks and French oak barrels. Classic profile for the style with rich fruits juxtaposed against toasty notes, a gorgeous structure and age-worthiness. Currants, cassis and raspberry are rich and enveloping with tobacco, black coffee and hardy herbs in the foreground. This is so silky and smooth with generosity of flavour and texture balanced by acidity and tannin.
Pair with prime rib, duck breast, beef wellington or slow cooked leg of lamb.
A small excerpt about Vignobles Pueyo from Jon Bonné's new book The New French Wine: " Christophe Pueyo embodies precisely what Saint-Emilion seems not to have these days: the will to make fresh, interesting, unpretentious wines that aren't striving to clamber up the cru classé pole. This is evident simply by his address in a quiet Libourne neighborhood near the river--and his work with parts of Saint-Emilion once paid little heed but now increasingly important: 7 hectares predominantly in the sand and gravel areas near Libourne, with others higher up, near Figeac, assembled by his father, Jacques, and uncle Jean-Paul, as well as 8 hectares of standout vineyards farther afield - cabernet franc and merlot on clay-gravel soils in Sainte-Radegonde, a simple Bordeaux appellation ground that outperforms.