Visting Château de Bellet

There have been a fair few changes up at Château de Bellet, in the hills of Nice, over the past few years.

The vineyard, so synonymous with the appellation itself, boasts a history dating centuries and a winemaking tradition passed down through the generations of Barons of Bellet who have called the château home.

The Bellet Vineyards

With only 50 hectares under cultivation, the vineyards of Bellet are one of the smallest appellations in France and the only one within the limits of a municipality. However, blessed with plenty of sunshine, sufficient rain, and enough wind, Bellet is a perfect microclimate for growing grapes.

Château de Bellet
482, Chemin de Saquier,
06200 Nice
Telephone: +33 (0)4 93 37 81 57
13 hectares of vines
Wine tasting in the deconsecrated 19th-century chapel

More information on the nine (9) vineyards in Bellet and wine tasting at the vineyards of the City of Nice.

Chrissie McClatchie

Sydney born Chrissie fell in love with the French Riviera at the age of 17, when she embarked on six months of French lessons (and table dancing at the Vieux Nice institution Chez Waynes).

Almost ten years after her first Nice experience, Chrissie returned to Nice for a summer and somewhat fortuitously landed a role with a local company selling fine wine to the superyachts along the coast, which cemented her passion for the fermented grape.

In late 2012 Chrissie started her blog, The Riviera Grapevine, to chronicle the wonderful and little-known local wines and indigenous grapes found along the French and Italian Riviera. Chrissie still works in wine and can often be found enjoying a sneaky Provence rosé at one of the al fresco bars on Nice's Place Garibaldi, or with her nose in her ever-expanding collection of wine literature.