Château BELAIR 1988
Château Belair Dubois Challon is located in Saint-Emilion , on the right bank of the Bordeaux wine region. The wine was produced by Madame Dubois-Challon's teams until 2006, then bought by the Moueix family before being renamed Château Belair-Monange in 2008. The estate is classified Grand Cru Classé B. Since the merger in 2012 with Château Magdeleine, the vineyard extends over 23.5 hectares.
Château Belair Dubois Challon is a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc . It is vinified in the traditional way then aged for 18 months in French oak barrels , 50% of which are new. The 1988 vintage for Bordeaux was generally good. A cold, wet winter gave way to an equally rough spring, making rot a problem. Although temperatures fortunately never dropped enough for frost damage to occur, the soggy and humid weather was nevertheless enough to hamper both bud break and flowering. Summer fortunately brought hot, dry weather, with August seeing particularly high temperatures and conditions looking idyllic as the harvest approached. Despite the various difficulties throughout the growing season, the resulting wines are surprisingly high quality.
Grape varieties: Merlot, Cabernet Franc