Château Belair Monange, 1er Grand Cru Classé, St Emilion, 2020

Name: Château Belair Monange, 1er Grand Cru Classé, St Emilion
Brand: Château Belair Monange
Price: 593.12 GBP

Available Vintages

all 2015 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

justerini & brooks tasting note

Bélair-Monange, which incorporates the vineyards of Bélair and Magdelaine, occupies an enviable position on the limestone côte 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 2020 displays all the class of this great limestone terroir. Initially quite closed aromatically, then hints of its brilliance emerge: griotte, kirsch, Asian spice, clove, violets and graphite. There’s a restraint here, a beautiful line and energy, intense, detailed, very serious, chiselled, finely textured, a glorious wine, extremely serious, almost cerebral with a superb network of filigree tannins that indulge the palate with a long, precise flourish of refined fruits, minerals and a touch of complex liquorice and spices. Outstanding.

critic reviews

97/100Neal Martin,Vinous

The 2020 Bélair-Monange has a more backward nose with dense black fruit. There is a very noticeable cedar/Cabernet element here that indicates that it might be Lafleur. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins—another top Right Bank wine with a cashmere/creamy texture. It's lavish and beautifully composed on the ethereal finish. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

DRINKING WINDOW 2030 - 2065

date of review 11/2024

95/100William Kelley,Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2020 Belair Monange has also turned out nicely in bottle, wafting from the glass with aromas of rich cherries, plums, sweet spices, rose petals and creamy new oak. Full-bodied, rich and layered, it remains fresh despite its ripe, sun-kissed profile, and its generous payload of tannin helps to integrate its rather lofty level of alcohol. This is a success in its demonstrative, modern style.

DRINKING WINDOW 2025 - 2045

date of review 04/2023

99/100Lisa Perrotti-Brown,The Wine Independent

A blend of 98% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc, the 2020 Belair-Monange has a deep garnet-purple color. It begins on a single note of bright, juicy red berries and roses, before expanding out to a whole array of suggestions of black plums, raspberry preserves, and mince pie, plus wafts of lilacs, loam, and cinnamon toast. The palate is full-on, full-bodied, jam-packed with muscular black and red berry layers and so many floral and savory accents, supported by velvety tannins, finishing with epic length and so much energy that it shimmers.

DRINKING WINDOW 2028 - 2064

date of review 03/2023