Château Moulin Bellegrave

Antoine Mabileau comes from a family of Loire growers, in Bourgueil and Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, where cabernet franc rules. In 2012 he decided to go out on his own, and he did it by buying this estate in Saint-Émilion, merlot country.

The château stands by the Dordogne, at the highest point of the commune of Vignonet, on a gravel croupe with clay-limestone subsoil.

They work merlot, cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc under reasoned viticulture, on vines around thirty years old. Yields are controlled and the harvest is late.

The blend is 80% merlot, 10% cabernet franc and 10% cabernet sauvignon. Slow fermentation and twelve months in French oak, new and used, plus stainless steel tank. Around 100,000 bottles are made.