Château Belair Monange, 1er Grand Cru Classé, St Emilion, 2019

Name: Château Belair Monange, 1er Grand Cru Classé, St Emilion
Brand: Château Belair Monange
Price: 563.92 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 98% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc, the 2019 displays all the class of this great limestone terroir. Initially this is impenetrable. With aeration one gets a glimpse of the intensely mineral, limestone influenced bouquet; you can really smell the terroir. Then black cherry and starry red berries, goji, Sanguinello orange, morello cherry, cinnamon and dark chocolate – this just hints at the staggeringly broad aromatic profile. The palate is equally broad and has wonderful persistence. Pure redcurrants, crème de mûre, Asian spice, sweet dark earth; it has wonderful mouthcoating fruit, slick and refined yet authoritative, beautifully textured and so fresh. This is one of the most cerebral and complex wines we have tasted from 2019. It’s like a ballerina, powerful yet graceful; an utterly compelling Belair Monange.

critic reviews

98/100Lisa Perrotti-Brown,The Wine Independent

The 2019 Belair-Monange is made from 96% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple in color, it needs a lot of coaxing to unleash aromas of baked black plums, blackberry compote, and dark chocolate, leading to suggestions of lavender, crushed rocks, and black truffles. The full-bodied palate is full-on hedonic, delivering a refreshing backbone and grainy tannins, finishing long and earthy.

DRINKING WINDOW 2026 - 2055

date of review 05/2023

94+/100Neal Martin,Vinous

The 2019 Bélair-Monange has a more tertiary nose, backward and broody, almost Left Bank in style. This demands much more coaxing from the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with a slightly chocolaty opening. The oak a little too thick maybe? Plenty of fruit behind it, quite plush on the finish, but missing the intellect that previous bottles have displayed. Maybe entering an awkward adolescence? Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting.

DRINKING WINDOW 2025 - 2045

date of review 02/2023

95/100William Kelley,Robert Parker Wine Advocate

Like Trotanoy, though of course not to the same extent, the 2019 Belair Monange is another of the richer, more powerful wines in the Mouiex portfolio this year. Offering up aromas of sweet cherries, wild berries, vanilla pod, plum preserve, warm spices and cedary new oak, it's full-bodied, broad and muscular, with a deep and layered core of ripe, sun-kissed fruit that's framed by lively acids and ripe, powdery tannins.

DRINKING WINDOW 2027 - 2057

date of review 04/2022

97/100Jane Anson,Inside Bordeaux

Such a lesson in limestone terroir with its precision, knife-spliced and restrained violet flowers, raspberry and redcurrant fruits. You need to chisel through the austerity to get to the creamy, fleshy side of these fruits but it is very definitely there. So good, enjoy, take your time, give 6 to 8 years to fully let that creamy raspberry puree and deeper black cherry side come out to join saffron, sage and slate minerality. Love it. Harvest September 19 to October 3. 50% new oak.

DRINKING WINDOW 2029 - 2048

date of review 01/2022