We’ve four wines from Château Belles Eaux this week, one of the leading lights of the Languedoc and a long-standing favourite of mine. I remember a very jolly visit to the estate in the days when it was in the hands of AXA Millésimes, the vineyard-owning arm of AXA Insurance that’s led by the canniest of canny old foxes — Christian Seely.
CS is celebrated for snapping up and turning around under-performing estates and making them great again. Given that the AXA portfolio currently includes such top-notch properties as Quinta do Noval, Ch. Pichon Baron, Ch. Suduiraut, Ch. Petit-Village, Domaine de l’Arlot and Disznókó, you will have some idea of the company Ch. Belles Eaux has been used to keeping. Seely/AXA bought the estate in 2002, invested heavily, planted extensively, turned it around and sold it in 2015 to Les Grands Chais de France, one of the world’s largest drinks companies, which has continued the good work.
The 100-hectare estate lies in the hills of Caux near Pézenas. It’s wild country here, with dry, rocky, gravelly soil, the heady scent of herb scrub and a constantly blazing sun. The estate has an enviable microclimate, too, thanks in part to the many springs — the Belles Eaux themselves — that thread the property, giving freshness and nourishment to the vines.
I love the whites of the Languedoc and the 2018 Ch. Belles Eaux ‘Les Coteaux’ Blanc (1), from the estate’s middle range of wines, is one of those that I could drink all day long and probably would if Mrs Ray wasn’t keeping such a close eye on my consumption at the moment.
A blend of Grenache Blanc, Clairette, Vermentino and Roussanne (part of which spends time in oak), it’s full flavoured, rich, creamy and complex.
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