Bellet: The urban appellation of Nice

  • The Urban Appellation

    The Urban Appellation

    I can still remember the first time I tasted a wine from Bellet. It was the autumn of 1988. I had just started working in wine, and had flown down to Provence for a week of visiting vineyards, staying with my parents in their little holiday cottage. This last day, they were driving me back…

  • Portes Ouvertes 4 and 5 June 2016

    The summer ‘open doors’ for the wines of Bellet will be held over the 4 and 5 June 2016 – a wonderful opportunity to try these rare wines. In the meantime – here is an interesting post on sustainable viticulture in Bellet from Toby Webb.  

  • Clos St Vincent, Bellet in The Wine Spectator

    Clos St Vincent, Bellet in The Wine Spectator

    In Robert Camuto’s latest ‘Letter from Europe’ for the Wine Spectator, he writes about Clos St Vincent in Bellet. This region is often missed in the international press because of it is small size, so it’s good to see expert coverage. I will be taking a group of wine scholars with the Wine Scholar Guild to…

  • Framboise, the traditional grape of Nice?

    In 2010 a Niçois manifesto was written encouraging people in the area around Nice to replant a grape variety known as framboise, claiming it was part of Niçois tradition, and a symbol of local identity. “Si vous avez dans vos relations quelques vieilles familles niçoises qui ont participé à cet acte de résistance et que…

  • New Beginnings at Château de Bellet

    While I was giving a tasting of Bellet wines on a super-yacht in Monaco, Chateau de Bellet held their opening night for their new cellars and tasting room. Fellow blogger Chrissie McClatchie of Riviera Grapevine attended and wrote up the event for me. “Back in 2012, it was announced that the acclaimed Nice vineyard Château…

  • A winter’s day at the Bellet “Portes Ouvertes” open weekend

    Bellet vineyards host two open day ‘Portes Ouvertes’ weekends a year – one in May with the new vintage, the other at the end of November – to provide an opportunity for customers to visit each of the domaines in a festive atmosphere and taste Bellet wines in-situ. We went along for the second day. Despite the heavy…

  • Bellet ‘Portes Ouvertes’ 29-30 November 2014

    Next weekend (29 and 30 November 2014) the vineyards of Bellet will be opening their doors (from 10h – 18h) for visitors to come and taste their wines and make their selections for the Christmas festivities and gifts. Last year it rained solidly throughout the weekend, making the dash from car to cellar a very…

  • New Vintage 2013 Tasting of the wines of AC Bellet

    The annual new 2013 vintage tasting for the small (around 60ha) appellation of Bellet is always extremely civilised. With only twelve domaines, each showing three to five wines, it is easy to taste all the wines in one morning, to chat to the producers and the other tasters, largely sommeliers working in the hotels, restaurants…

  • Bellet 2013 Vintage – Annual Tasting

    The annual professional Bellet tasting of the new white and rosé wines from the 2013 vintage as well as the rest of the Bellet wines currently available will be held on March 24th 2014 at Chateau de Crémat. Last summer was cool and damp until June, delaying ripening by upto two weeks, with some very…

  • Gold Medal for Domaine St Jean, Bellet

    Congratulations to Jean-Patrick and Nathalie Pacioselli of the Bellet estate, Domaine St Jean, for a gold medal at the Concours Général Agricole de Paris for their white wine 2013.

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