Château Bélair-Monange 2017

A Rich, Complex Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé with a Polished Texture and Great Ageing Potential

With its winemaking history traced back to before the French Revolution, Château Bélair-Monange was acquired by the Moueix family in 2008 and has since then made tremendous improvements in quality through yield reduction out in the vineyards and technological investments at the winery. The property is a Premier Grand Cru Classé of Saint-Émilion, home to 23.5 hectares (58 acres) planted with vines (around 14 hectares under production), of which 90% is Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. The estate's terroir brings together a limestone plateau with blue clay soils on limestone slopes, translating to greater nuance and complexity in the finished wine. Following a manual harvest, carried out with manual sorting in the vineyard and optical sorting at the winery, the fruit is vinified in thermoregulated concrete and stainless steel vats with a gentle maceration and extraction. The wine matures for a period of 16 to 18 months in French oak barrels, of which around half is new.

The Château Bélair-Monange 2017 is already revealing itself to be one of the greatest successes of the estate, completely unaffected by the frost, which damaged other appellations in Bordeaux. In the glass, this Saint-Émilion Premier Grand Cru Classé shows off a deep garnet purple colour. On the nose, the wine reveals a perfumed bouquet, resplendent with red cherries, crushed strawberries and plum, along with hints of milk chocolate and mint. The palate is quite rich, with many layers of floral flavours and spice, a polished texture and austere tannins suggesting great potential for age. The finish is quite long and dry, with plenty of ripe fruit flavours.