Château Bellefont-Belcier

Château Bellefont-Belcier is one of the seven properties of Maison Vignobles K, founded by Peter Kwok, a Chinese businessman with close ties with France. He invested in estates with great potential on the Right Bank of Bordeaux, and developed their notorieties, highlighting their exceptional terroirs. One of them is Château Bellefont-Belcier, an ancient property, restored thanks to the hard work of the team of Vignobles K, which now is included in the Classification of Saint-Émilion wines.

VertdeVin: Could you introduce yourself?
Jean-Christophe Meyrou: I have been general manager of the Vignobles K for 8 years. Before, I was responsible for other Bordeaux estates, including Château Le Gay in Pomerol and Château La Gravière in Lalande de Pomerol. Now I work at Vignobles K, which has 7 properties in Bordeaux on the Right Bank.

Did Mr. Peter Kwok, the owner of Maison Vignobles K, always want to become a winemaker or was it a spontaneous decision?
J-C. M.: Mr. Kwok is of Vietnamese origin, and France has a very good image in Vietnam. He always wanted his children to appreciate French culture, but did not really plan to become a winemaker one day. Such an opportunity, as well as that of having close ties with France, is presented at Château Haut-Brisson, which he bought in 1997. Then Mr. Kwok learned from talented people. Michel Rolland is his friend since the 1990s and he is always present at Château Haut-Brisson, since its acquisition.

Why did these seven Bordeaux estates in particular joined Vignobles K?
J-C. M.: The acquisition of a domain has always been thought out by Peter. The most important points to make such a decision are the quality of the estate’s terroir and the possibility to improve its reputation and the quality of its wines. Originally, Château Haut-Brisson had different plots. The least qualitative were sold and replaced by others, of better potential. In the 2000s, he started the conversion to organic viticulture and improved wines of the château. 10 years later, he felt comfortable investing in other estates. In 2011, he bought Château Tour Saint-Christophe, located in the commune of Saint-Christophe des Bardes, on a magnificent limestone terroir, opposite Château Troplong Mondot. In 2012, he acquired Château La Patache and Enclos Tourmaline in Pomerol, where he had even created a new brand, which is difficult in this appellation. Enclos de Viaud in Lalande de Pomerol has a beautiful gravel terroir, and Château Le Rey in Castillon, acquired in 2016, benefits from a southern exposure and magnificent plots of clay and limestone in the commune of Sainte-Colombe. It is a real laboratory for Vignobles K, where we create wines, representing the typology of a terroir: for example, one cuvée from limestone, and another – from blue clay soil. Château Bellefont-Belcier, acquired in 2017, had been a well-known old estate, but, we can say – a sleeping beauty in Bordeaux with a great potential. It is located on the southern part of Saint-Émilion, near Château Pavie, Larcis-Ducase and Tertre Roteboeuf. When the Château was bought, everything had to be restored: the buildings, the vines, the cellars. Bellefont-Belcier deserves to be included in the Saint-Émilion wine classification and we are working hard for it.

What are the particularities of the terroirs of these estates?
J-C. M.: Château La Patache is located on fine gravel, Enclos Tourmaline – on clay, Châteaux Le Rey, Bellefont-Belicier, Tour-Saint-Christophe – on limestone and clay-limestone soils.

What is the signature of your wines, which helps recognize them in blind tastings?
J-C. M.: It’s not an easy question, because terroir is a filter for wines. Terroirs of Châteaux Tour Saint-Christophe and Bellefont-Belcier have different proportions of clay and different exposure, so interpretations of the same appellation in their
wines will be different. A common point is that our wines are straight, gourmand, not too rich, balanced, with a beautiful finish. We use a limited dose of sulfur and careful work with oak. Our wines are charming, fruity, with a nice fresh and mouth-watering finish.

Do you have any projects for Vignobles K? Acquisition of other châteaux, creation of new cuvées…
J-C. M.: Indeed, we create new cuvées representative of terroirs, or even this year, we have created a cuvée uniting all the appellations present in the group. As for investment projects, there is nothing specific, because first of all, we estimate
the profitability of a new project. Our wines are appreciated, and other estates invite us to give our opinion on their wines or to participate in the creation of new wines.

Do you have a story about Maison Vignobles K or about one of the properties to tell us?
J-C. M.: Our most beautiful story is the reflection of the work at Château Tour Saint-Christophe. We uprooted a third of vines, renovated the château and its cellars, highlighted its unique terroir. The Château has dry stone terraces, which is very rare here. Today, they represent its’ DNA and are iconic for the region. The château was purchased in 2011, its first vintage was produced in 2012, then we continued our development and, finally, in 2015, the demand for our wines exceeded our supply. Today, they are distributed in France and around the world. The greatest reward for all this work made in 10 years was the entry of Château Tour Saint-Christophe into the Saint-Émilion Grands Crus classification in 2022. This proves that Peter Kwok’s choice to give importance to the terroir and invest in it was a wise choice.

Thanks to J.-C. Meyrou for sharing his time and passion

Valentina Guérin de Tourville

Château Bellefont-Belcier

Vignobles K
33 330 Saint Christophe des Bardes – France
www.vignoblesk.com