Château Bel Air Marquis d’Aligre, Margaux, 2009

Château Bel-Air Marquis d’Aligre in Margaux is run by the formidable Jean-Pierre Boyer who at 86 years old (in 2019) has produced 69 vintages in his life, all of them at the same place. What is even more remarkable is that during all these years almost nothing has changed at Bel-Air Marquis D'Aligre: the vines, the winery, the way Mr Boyer makes the wine, while everything else has changed around him, as he likes to point out. The vines here are suitably old, some over 100yo, from the west of the appellation above Virefougasse, where there is a fine, sandy texture to the soils. Jean-Pierre Boyer has never followed trends, dispensing with all oak for ageing back in the 1960s and instead carrying out a long patient three years élevage in cement tanks and then selling the wine when it’s at least ten years old. All his wines are renowned for their long ageing capacity.