Winemaker Notes
Intense notes of black fruit, the skins redolent with mild tannins, the seeds crisp.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromas of cedar, flowers, sandalwood, dried strawberries and chalk. The palate is medium-bodied with chalky, precise tannins that delineate the fruit. Fantastic precision and elegance. Focused, with linear, elegant, chalky tannins that dominate the elegant fruit and prolong it. Truly exceptional. Drink now or hold. 10 Years On retrospective.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 92% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc, the medium to deep garnet-purple colored 2016 Belair Monange comes strutting out of the glass like a total rock star with gregarious red cherries, blackberries and warm plums scents plus hints of lavender, rose hip tea, powdered cinnamon, cigar box and camphor. Medium-bodied, it completely fills the palate with vibrant red and black fruit layers, framed by a firm backbone of grainy tannins and wonderful freshness, finishing long and perfumed.
Rating: 97+ -
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Château Belair-Monange (92% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc) comes from limestone soils on both the upper plateau and the hillside slope just outside of the village of Saint Emilion. This deep, saturated purple-hued effort offers a more primordial style in its ripe black fruits, toasty oak, espresso bean, and spring flower-scented aromas and flavors. With full-bodied richness, solid acidity, terrific purity, and rock-solid underlying structure, this beautiful Saint Emilion needs 4-5 years of bottle age and will keep for two decades. It opens up nicely with time in the glass, so if you feel like drinking a bottle soon, give it a healthy decant.
Rating: 96+ -
Vinous
The 2016 Belair-Monangé displays almost clinical precision on a nose of mineral-rich black cherry and raspberry fruit, plus hints of wilted violets and iris. The medium-bodied palate delivers firm grip on the entry. This is a clean, precise, correct Saint-Émilion with plenty of tension and poise toward the persistent finish. Very classy and noble. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.
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Wine Enthusiast
After considerable replantation, this 57-acre estate now shows how good it can be. This wine has style as well as concentration and glorious black fruits that are developing into a rich wine.
Cellar Selection -
Wine Spectator
The fruit -- plum, fig and black currant -- is decidedly dark in profile now, but it is very, very pure, with sleek and racy definition throughout. There's a swath of tobacco and alluring toast as well, but this red is defined on its back end by a bolt of chalky minerality that is buried deep and should emerge fully with extended cellaring. Best from 2022 through 2038.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Marked by its historic fortified village—perhaps the prettiest in all of Bordeaux, the St-Émilion appellation, along with its neighboring village of Pomerol, are leaders in quality on the Right Bank of Bordeaux. These Merlot-dominant red wines (complemented by various amounts of Cabernet Franc and/or Cabernet Sauvignon) remain some of the most admired and collected wines of the world.
St-Émilion has the longest history in wine production in Bordeaux—longer than the Left Bank—dating back to an 8th century monk named Saint Émilion who became a hermit in one of the many limestone caves scattered throughout the area.
Today St-Émilion is made up of hundreds of independent farmers dedicated to the same thing: growing Merlot and Cabernet Franc (and tiny amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon). While always roughly the same blend, the wines of St-Émilion vary considerably depending on the soil upon which they are grown—and the soils do vary considerably throughout the region.
The chateaux with the highest classification (Premier Grand Cru Classés) are on gravel-rich soils or steep, clay-limestone hillsides. There are only four given the highest rank, called Premier Grand Cru Classés A (Chateau Cheval Blanc, Ausone, Angélus, Pavie) and 14 are Premier Grand Cru Classés B. Much of the rest of the vineyards in the appellation are on flatter land where the soils are a mix of gravel, sand and alluvial matter.
Great wines from St-Émilion will be deep in color, and might have characteristics of blackberry liqueur, black raspberry, licorice, chocolate, grilled meat, earth or truffles. They will be bold, layered and lush.