As mentioned, Bouland’s Bellevue soils are split into two cuvées—one for the sand (Sable) and one for the stones (Cailloux). These two parcels are only separated by a small track, yet, as Bouland points out, the soil is completely different. Terroir! Not only does the weathered sandy granite differ from the Cailloux parcel, but the slope is steeper, and the 40- to 50-year-old vines are on a specific low-yielding rootstock called Vialla—a stock well adapted to sandy, granitic or deep argilo-siliceous soils. Tasted side-by-side, the Sable cuvée is the more yielding of the two wines, with a greater width and juicier tannins than the Cailloux bottling. Regardless, the wine retains superb, juicy drive and finishes with superb, pour-me-another-glass intensity.
