A special wine made of a careful blend of 7 appellations from the most famous Bordeaux regions.
GRAPE VARIETY : 50 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Merlot
LOCATION : Margaux, Saint Estephe, Pauillac, Saint Julien, Pomerol, Pessac Leognan, Saint Emilion
AGEING POTENTIAL IN BOTTLE : 25 years
COLOR : Ruby red
NOSE : Red fruits, wild cherries on the bouquet.
MOUTH : This wine is full bodied, complex, elegant and outstanding
SERVICE : Between 16 & 18ºC.
FOOD PARING : Red meat, Grilled Steak, Poultry & Cheese
L'Infini de Belliard
A blend of 7 different appellations…
As reported by Pierre Dac, "I prefer wine from here rather than water from there but the water here (Bassin d’Arcachon) that makes the wine of Bordeaux. He who knows how to enjoy the treasures from Maison Belliard will not drink wine anymore, but he will appreciate its harmonious secrets, leading towards the infinite depth of the know-how and the well-being of the Belliard Family."
It was thus naturally in 2005, Xavier Belliard, always in constant search for perfection towards the development of his wines, decided to age his 2005 vintage in the Ocean. This was accomplished with the assistance of a well-known Oyster Farmer.
The bottles were placed in custom-built steel cages, secured to wooden boards with their necks sealed with wax, and left 60ft below the Arcachon Harbour in Gironde for three months. The harbour was chosen as its water remains relatively stable at 13°C
the temperature at which wine is usually aged on land.
Several months later, this wine was tasted both by Xavier Belliard.
The results were very surprising. After a few months of ocean ageing, the wine had a markedly different taste to the same wine which had been aged in their Cellars. Ocean conditions also seemed to have expedited the ageing process.
“We were stunned by the conclusion,” said Mr Belliard. “The wines had actually taken different paths in that short period. The character of the wine has remained similar, but the ocean wine tasted older, much more complex, and the tannins were more rounded. “We asked ourselves – is this a different wine, and more importantly, is it a better wine? If so, what impacted that change – we needed to find out.”
They decided to conduct further tests, doubling the duration to six months and using nearly 100 bottles.
“If you can apply what we are learning to ageing wine on land, it has the potential to revolutionise how an entire industry thinks about ageing. And if we can enjoy a few glasses of a fine, mysterious vintage along the way, so much the better.”Xavier Belliard
