| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Right Bank > St Emilion |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
Chateau Belair is now owned by the Moueix family, and has had a new name since the 2008 vintage. This is one of the best vineyards in Saint Emilion, perched at the top of the slope right next to Ausone, near Canon and above Angelus. Despite the brilliant terroir, the wine-making here had been mediocre for many years until the Moueix purchase. It is clear that Edouard Moueix is going to transform this Chateau into one of the stars of Saint Emilion. The vineyard is planted with 88% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and the yield is miniscule as some of the vines are 100 years old and there are many gaps to be filled. Of the 23.5 hectares only 14 are currently in production. A second wine "Annonce" is now produced from the younger vines.
The 2017 Belair-Monange has a medium to deep garnet-purple color. It waltzes out with flamboyant notes of warm black plums, blackberry preserves, and wild blueberries, plus suggestions of star anise, dusty soil, and violets. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is packed with black fruit and spicy layers, supported by plush, velvety tannins and just enough freshness, finishing long and fragrant.
The 2017 Bélair-Monange was so impressive out of barrel and now in bottle, I see no reason to alter my appreciation. It has a very intense bouquet, one that is reassuringly complex, especially in context of what was a rather ordinary growing season with copious red cherries, boysenberry, hints of iodine and a light terracotta scent. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannins that are surprisingly rigid at the moment, suggesting that this will be a long term Saint-Émilion. There is a beguiling sense of symmetry, very mineral-driven towards the finish that has impressive sapidity. This comes highly recommended although it deserves five or six years in bottle. Bravo Christian and Edouard Moueix. 2025 - 2050
Tasted blind. Mid ruby colour. Reticent, very tightly wound on the nose. Structured too on the palate. A tightly wound core of fruit is enveloped by chewy but highly refined tannins. Driven and compact, there is superb structure here that is currently hard to penetrate. The flourish of hedgerow fruit and dark cherries intermingling with layers of spice suggests real potential to come.
Drink 2027 – 2040
Fresh earth, truffle, sous bois and attractively ripe blueberry and plum aromas here. It’s a bold and very pure, primary wine here for now, yet this has great potential. The palate reveals beautifully ripe red-plum and cherry flavors with a powerful tannin statement that carries impressive depth and scale on the finish. Give this time. Try from 2023.
A real success in the vintage, from an estate unaffected by frost. This wine is showing some beautiful floral notes, followed by a palate with lingering aromatics that tease. The well-handled, rich but flexible tannins lend an austerity that bodes well for ageing. The wine really opens up in the glass, and although it's a tighter effort than in the past few years, they are staking their claim to be among the best St-Émilions on the plateau. This is a gorgeous wine, and that austerity is going to fill out beautifully during barrel ageing.
Drinking Window 2026 - 2040
Inky crimson. Cassis dominates the nose. Tannins are so supple already and the whole is caressing and gorgeous even with the Moueix 'house style' of dark, minerally restraint. Lovely long, dry finish.
Drink 2024-2035
In 2017 there was no frost on the plateau of St Emilion so production here was normal with a final blend of 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc. With a mixture of red and black fruits on the nose, this offers a very ripe and yet enticing aromatic profile with a hint of milk chocolate. The palate is very rich and plush, with rounded rannins and juicy cherry fruit. The creamy vanilla from the new oak complements the polished and velveteen texture, allowing the fruit to shine through on the long finish. A superb example of the best the right bank had to offer with measured winemaking and attention to detail in the vineyard.
The nose has a mix of fresh black fruits the start of the palate layers of flavour bramble and bilberry backed by spicy red fruits. There is mid sweetness more depth of flavour the ripe fruit giving richness on the finish. 2025-37
The amplitude of aroma on the nose is astounding. It is 90% fruit and 10% oak, unlike virtually all of its contemporaries. This richness and depth of plum, mulberry and cherry builds on the palate to a crescendo. Everything is in place and the tannins stand to attention like ranks of soldiers on parade. The fruit is in control of every aspect of this wine and there is freshness, even a touch of mint bringing levity, to puncture the core with complexity. Perfectly balanced and with decades ahead of it, this is an impeccable 2017 and it is going to drink within ten years, such is its grace and polish.
Made of 98% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc, the 2017 Belair Monange is medium to deep garnet-purple in color. With a little swirling, this baby comes bounding out of the glass with energetic notes of wild blueberries, Morello cherries, baked plums and black raspberries with wafts of Indian spices, lavender, garrigue and tobacco plus a hint of licorice. Medium to full-bodied, the black and blue fruit dance playfully on the palate with fantastic freshness to lift the bold flavors and a superb frame of ripe, velvety tannins. It finishes very long and with amazing zing. So tempting to drink now, but make no mistake—this is one for the long haul! 2024 - 2070
The 2017 Bélair-Monange is fast-becoming the jewel in the crown of J-P Moueix, and also the home of Edouard Moueix and his family. It has a very perfumed and winsome bouquet, so pure and delineated with crystalline red cherries, crushed strawberry and very subtle cassis scents that are sutured with the oak. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannin. Tensile from the start, this Bélair-Monange conveys a sense of tension and energy that lingers on the aftertaste, a touch of white pepper leaving the tongue tingling 30 seconds after it has departed. This is an assured, and bewitching Saint-Émilion, one that is really beginning to fire on all cylinders. Drink 2023 - 2045.
A compacted and seamless young wine with ripe and fine tannins, focused dark fruit and a flavorful finish. A beauty.
A final blend of 90% Merlot with 10% Cabernet Franc, the deep garnet-purple colored 2017 Belair Monange has a flamboyant nose of potpourri, Indian spices, Sichuan pepper, hoisin and sandalwood over a core of crème de cassis, blackberry pie and blueberry preserves with a waft of dusty earth. The medium to full-bodied palate is rich and seductive with oodles of freshness and layers of floral and spice notions, finishing long.
