Bellevue Mondotte 2018 (3.0L)

96-98 JD / 96-97 JS / 95-97 WA / 93-96 WS / 92 DE

The 2018 Bellevue Mondotte is a blockbuster that just jumps out of the glass with its crème de cassis, crushed violets, blackberry, and licorice aromas and flavors. It's powerful, opulent, and massively textured, yet never over the top or too much. It has building tannins, no hard edges, and a great finish. - Jeb Dunnuck

This has a real mineral undertone this year with lots of dark-berry, cherry and blueberry character. Full-bodied, chewy and powerful. Excellent. Limestone coming through. - James Suckling

Grapes for this wine come from the plateau and were harvested October 3, with yields of 30 hectoliters per hectare. Composed of 90% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon with a 3.5 pH and 14.56% alcohol, the deep purple-black colored 2018 Bellevue Mondotte opens with alluring scents of Christmas cake, blueberry pie, chocolate-covered cherries and hoisin with nuances of Chinese five spice, iron ore, rose hip tea and cracked black pepper. Full-bodied, rich, opulent and totally decadent in the mouth, the palate has a plush texture and maintains that incredible freshness that defines these beautiful wines on the terrace—finishing with tons of spicy fireworks. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Advocate

Vibrant blackberry and plum fruit flavors are pure, engaging and fresh in this red. Light-handed toast detail lets this play out nicely. Seems to be a tasty fruit bomb in the making. - James Molesworth, Wine Spectator

The Perse wines this year are all of a very high standard, and there's no question that winemaking influence has been softened, but they remain at the extreme end of the scale of the appellation as a whole. Pumped up but pretty delicious on the palate, this wine is powerful and concentrated, rippling with - rather than constricted by - the tannins. The 2ha of 50-year-old vines (on average) produced a 30hl/ha yield in 2018. 100% new oak. 3.5pH. -Jane Anson, Decanter