Château Belair Monange, 1er Grand Cru Classé, St Emilion, 2018

Name: Château Belair Monange, 1er Grand Cru Classé, St Emilion
Brand: Château Belair Monange
Price: 863.92 GBP

Available Vintages

all 2015 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

justerini & brooks tasting note

Belair Monange, which incorporates the vineyards of Belair and Magdelaine, occupies an enviable position on the limestone Cote to the west of Chateau Ausone. We always taste this wine at the end of the JP Moueix tasting as it is so different from the style of the Pomerol range. Produced from 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, the 2018 displays the class of this great limestone terroir. Initially this is intensely mineral, you can almost smell the terroir, then with aeration aromas of cherry, dark chocolate, Asian spice, sweet dark earth and goji berries emerge. This has wonderful mouthcoating fruit with real persistence and bold flavours. It is slick and refined yet authoritative and beautifully textured and finishes with starry cranberry notes. This possibly has the most velour and texturally impressive tannins we have ever seen from Belair Monange. Luxuriant and compelling.

critic reviews

98/100Lisa Perrotti-Brown,The Wine Independent

The 2018 Belair-Monange has a deep garnet purple color. It is very closed, slightly reduced, requiring a lot of swirling to reveal notes of black raspberries, warm plums, and kirsch, plus hints of pencil lead, wild sage, tilled soil, and wet slate. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is firm and grainy, with tight-knit fruit and lots of earth and mineral layers on the long finish.

DRINKING WINDOW 2024 - 2054

date of review 02/2023

97/100Jane Anson,Inside Bordeaux

Now standing up alongside the most sought-after names of St Emilion, Belair-Monange is on the limestone plateau, and has been the recipient of serious investment over recent years. Still extremely young, gorgeously ripped muscular frame, here the fruit is multi layered and multi faceted, so much power, autumnal blackberry and blueberry, soft mocha and coffee, clear limestone edge. Great stuff.

DRINKING WINDOW 2028 - 2044

date of review 10/2021

98/100Lisa Perrotti-Brown,Robert Parker Wine Advocate

Made from 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, the medium to deep garnet-purple colored 2018 Belair Monange rolls effortlessly out of the glass with gregarious scents of black cherry preserves, stewed plums and boysenberries, plus suggestions of Indian spices, rose oil, Ceylon tea and garrigue, with a waft of tilled soil. The rich, seductive, full-bodied palate is laden with black fruit preserves and exotic spice layers, framed by velvety tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and fragrant. Wonderfully hedonic and conceivably drinkable now, give it 4-5 years in the cellar to allow the earthy/savory nuances to fully emerge from within the fruit and drink it over the next 25 years or more.

DRINKING WINDOW 2025 - 2050

date of review 03/2021

96/100Neal Martin,Vinous

The 2018 Bélair-Monange, so impressive out of barrel, delivers now that it finds itself incarcerated by glass. It is endowed with a seriously impressive nose, delivering blackberry and still that faint warm brick/terracotta scent, shaved black truffle and a touch of clove. You could lose yourself completely in this bouquet. The palate has firmed up a little, displaying more backbone than I recall. The dash of cracked black pepper liberally sprinkled over the finish curiously bears similarities to some of the Pomerols this vintage, and the Cabernet Franc feels much more prominent than its 2% contribution to the blend would suggest. I adore this Saint-Émilion and it is going to benefit from 8–10 years in the cellar... if you can resist temptation that long.

DRINKING WINDOW 2027 - 2050

date of review 03/2021