November 26, 2015 - Still fresh and vibrant but underlying notes of walnuts and honey emerge, showing that the wine is in decline. Drink NOW.
May 30, 2014 - Compared to the 09 this is excellent - very good balance between the fresh knock out acidity and the fruit (peach, green apples, with a bit of grassy feel...) - good core with a slight bitter olive-petrol-grapefruit with good length - a long life ahead.....
January 10, 2013 - Amazing easy to drink. Pale straw color with a bouquet of lime and lychee. Slight buttery finish.
December 29, 2012 - Lemon, melon, steely. Firm acid. Good value, good w/ food.
October 26, 2012 - better
October 4, 2012 - Shall we start with the pale yellow/green color? Very pale I do say. The nose is so racy on the Bel Air displaying a beautiful essence of lime, orange blossoms, and an almost overwhelming attack of crushed peppercorns. There's a lot of sauvignon character on the nose allowing just a peak at the semillon which makes up 35% of the wine. Semillon has only displayed one aroma in my experience and that is fuzzy peach rings (please see my review of the 2005 Chateau Olivier blanc if you have the inclination). One might be surprised at the width on the palate as the semillon certainly makes its presence felt. As it warms, the wine's linearity is lost a bit which in some wines is ok, but the Bel Air needs to be near cold to show the best of the sauvignon, so I recommend drinking this on the cooler side. I normally say that if a white wine is well made it doesn't need to be much cooler than room temperature but this shows such beauty at about 52 degrees. As far as the finish it's like drinking a cocktail consisting of two thirds kaffir lime extract and one part mineral-loaded mountain spring water, but impresses with a medium body. For me this is a wine of such contrasts I'm having a difficult time coming up with a drinking window here. It should be excellent through summer, 2013. Some may say longer but this is forward to the point that I just don't think the Bel Air will improve with time.
I want to give a shout out to the tasters who pontificate in their cellartracker reviews not only giving their thoughts on the wine but who also paint a picture and at times, hopefully digress. It makes for wonderfully distracting reading on the airplane. Cheers to the ones who realize others are reading.
September 15, 2012 - Lovely Graves, aroma's of lychee mixed with wet stone and a touch of grapefruit. Crisp and mineral taste with a nice touch of grapefruit and vanilla and lovely minerality. Perfect PQR.
August 18, 2012 - not stellar, served with smoked fish
July 28, 2012 - I had this for lunch with a salad. It went great. Full fresh taste and lingering fruity aftertaste. Signs of complexity not usually found with new world whites. €15 for half bottle in the restaurant.
October 25, 2011 - Mooi lichtgeel. Tropisch fruit. Mineralisch. Hout. Romig vanille. Lengte. Zuurtje. Fris. Ruggengraat. Kan erg mooi ouderen.