Perhaps the most radical winemaker in Bordeaux? Undoubtedly this is the antithesis to what we’ve become accustomed to seeing from this most  traditional of French wine regions. Olivier Cazenave and his wife Anne discovered Château de Bel on the banks of the Dordogne in 2003. They have since  expanded its vineyards to eight hectares, as well as taken on the farming of those of friends and family elsewhere in Bordeaux, with one-third of a  hectare in Pomerol and two hectares in Montagne Saint-Émilion. Since 2016, all Olivier’s own vineyards are certified biodynamic. His wines are at turns classical, experimental, natural and never shying from controversy. 

Echappée - meaning an 'escape', such as a romantic getaway, or in cycling a 'breakaway' - is Olivier's multi-vintage house blend, the red version a mixture of a few recent vintages of Merlot from the biodynamic vineyards of Château de Bel. Olivier makes his wines non-vintage partly to create a reliable house style (as in Champagne), partly to distance the wines from what can sometimes be an unhealthy obsession with this or that vintage in Bordeaux.