Château Bel Air-Marquis d'Aligre - Margaux - Red - 1998

Wine:

A rare and unforgettable experience! The 1998 Château Bel Air Marquis d’Aligre is an extraordinary wine—delicate, refined, and barely showing its age. It unfolds with elegant aromas of ripe fruit, plum, cardamom, and sweet spices, all carried by a fresh, impeccably structured palate with seamlessly integrated tannins. The perfect ripeness of the Cabernet, the finesse of the Merlot, and the absence of filtration give it a full, silky texture that remains astonishingly youthful. Tasting a wine that, after more than 20 years, still feels so vibrant is pure joy. Easily on par with Médoc’s classified growths, it fully deserves its status as a Grand Cru Exceptionnel. Rated 96/100 by our Selection Committee, this is a wine of pure emotion.

Vinification:

Hand-harvested, sourced from the finest parcels, fermented with native yeasts, and aged for 36 months in concrete tanks. Unfiltered.

Color:

Dark red with garnet reflections.

Nose:

Delicate plum aromas mixed with notes of cardamom, blood orange and sweet spices.

Palate:

Generous and elegant, with perfectly ripe fruit flavours. Its full, silky texture offers remarkable depth and finesse, delivering a refined profile with beautifully evolving complexity.

Temperature:

Serve between 16 and 18°C. Do not hesitate to decant at least two hours before serving.

Food and wine pairing:

Red meat and mushrooms, hunting dishes of small game birds, risotto with woodland mousserons and its full-bodied brown juice, dishes based on black truffles and cheese platter with a farmhouse Saint-Nectaire as a priority.

Cellar aging:

From now until 2027

A free thinker, unbound by Bordeaux’s conventions and media-driven trends, Jean-Pierre Boyer crafts an extraordinary Margaux of dazzling class. With over 70 harvests to his name, he is a true artist, working first and foremost in the vineyard to achieve the ripest, most pristine fruit. True to his vision, he vinifies much as it was done in the 19th century—first ageing the wine in tanks until May, followed by a short period in old wooden barrels before returning it to tanks for another two years. This extended maturation lends the wine a unique finesse and remarkable fluidity.

Bordering the prestigious terroir of Château Margaux, the 13-hectare Château Bel Air Marquis d’Aligre offers an intimate, deeply personal expression of Bordeaux. Only one wine is produced here, and only in the finest vintages—making this gem as rare as it is captivating. Defying modern trends, it continues to deliver breathtaking results, year after year.