Château Bélair Monange St-Émilion 1. Grand Cru Classé B 2016

<p><em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">“99 points. The height of elegance! Such depth of chalk and dark berries. It goes on for minutes.” </em><strong><em><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">- James Suckling</span></em></strong></p> <h2><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><strong>Anmeldelser af Château Bélair Monange St-Émilion 1. Grand Cru Classé B 2016</strong></span></span></h2> <p><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>99/100 James Suckling</strong></span></span></em></span><br /><em><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">“Incredibly perfumed aromas of roses and violets, as well as blue fruit and lavender. Full-bodied and powerful, yet so full of finesse and vibrance. The height of elegance! Such depth of chalk and dark berries. It goes on for minutes.”</span></span></em></p> <p><em><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>98/100 Andreas Larsson, Tasted</strong></span><br />"Chalky, fresh and stony nose with floral wild berries and fresh truffle, very pure and detailed aromas emerge. Very concentrated and fresh palate, lovely layers of wild raspberries, cassis and plum with fine oak a discreet spiciness. Very long and intense finish with digest wild fruit notes, freshness and purity."</span></span></em></p> <p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;"><em><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">98/100 The Wine Independent</span></span></em></span></strong></p> <p><em><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ff0000; font-size: 14px;"><strong>97-98/100 Vinum</strong><span style="color: #000000;"><br />"Of sheer density, minerality and race, immense tannin quality, great tension and length; Top buy."</span></span></span></span></em></p> <p><em><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ff0000; font-size: 14px;"><strong>97+/100 Robert Parker</strong></span><br />”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.”</span></span></em></p> <p><em><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ff0000; font-size: 14px;"><strong>97/100 Vinous</strong></span><br />“The 2016 Bélair-Monange is easily the most closed of all of J-P Moueix’s wines when I taste them together. It is stubbornly tight in the glass and then coquettishly unfurls mineral-rich red berry fruit mixed with rose petals; the perfume is captivating. The palate is well balanced, with velvety tannin and perfectly judged acidity, and very, very harmonious. More and more black fruit seems to join the chorus line toward the finish, which fans out gloriously, demonstrating superlative persistence. The best Bélair-Monange to date, and an accomplished, riveting Saint-Émilion.”</span></span></em></p> <p><em><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ff0000; font-size: 14px;"><strong>97/100 Decanter</strong></span><br />“In 2016 the majority of the grapes were coming from the eastern side of the plateau of Bélair, near to Ausone, although from 2017 things balance out to more accurately reflect the entirety of the vineyard. There's no question that Bélair-Monange is signalling its intent to take on the very best wines of St-Emilion. The smoky oak notes dominate at first, more than in the 2015, but this was only bottled one year ago and it settles in the glass after five minutes. It has wonderful grip and impact, sizzling from the first moment with pulses of electricity and a vertical ride from the clearly evident minerality, both in taste and texture, joined by rich, precise blackberry and blueberry fruits. The whole thing levitated further upwards after 24 hours in bottle, as we tried it again the following night, this time with food.”</span></span></em></p> <p><em><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ff0000; font-size: 14px;"><strong>96+/100 Jeb Dunnuck</strong></span><br />“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.”</span></span></em></p> <p><em><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ff0000; font-size: 14px;"><strong>96/100 Wine Enthusiast</strong></span><br />“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.”</span></span></em></p> <p><em><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ff0000; font-size: 14px;"><strong>96/100 Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider</strong></span><br />“Full-bodied, concentrated, soft, silky and with a beautiful purity to its layers of fruits, you also find, smoke, licorice wet earth, cigar wrapper and spice. Fresh, energetic and fruity, with soft, polished tannins this is going to be a knockout with at least a decade of aging.”</span></span></em></p> <p><span style="color: #ff0000; font-size: 14px;"><strong><em><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">96/100 Falstaff</span></em></strong></span></p> <p><span style="color: #ff0000; font-size: 14px;"><strong><em><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">19/20 René Gabriel</span></em></strong></span></p>