2012 Château Bélair-Monange, St Emilion, Bordeaux

2012 Château Bélair-Monange, St Emilion, Bordeaux

Product: 20128125181
Prices start from £480.00 per case Buying options
2012 Château Bélair-Monange, St Emilion, Bordeaux

Buying options

Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
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6 x 75cl bottle
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Description

This is the old Bélair vineyard, run by Jean-Pierre Moueix since 2008, and rechristened then to distinguish it from Bordeaux’s other myriad of Belair synonyms. In common with the other Moueix properties, in 2012 the key was to find a route to phenolic maturity despite the rains of early October. In this case the earlier maturing Merlot was best suited to the style of the château, and comprises 97% of the blend. Edouard Moeuix is clear that this is not a Cabernet Franc vintage for Bélair. In some ways this is a return to the château’s previous style; it is understated, yet with a persuasive creamy central core of fruit and an almost effortless miasma of elegance and breed, befitting such a well-positioned vineyard.
Mark Pardoe MW, Wine Buying Director

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate93-95/100
Aromas of licorice, black currants, kirsch, lavender, truffles and crushed chalk are present in the stunningly intense and precise aromatics. Medium to full-bodied and dense ruby/purple-hued with rich, flowing fruit and glycerin, the wine cascades over the palate with no hard edges. A superstar of the vintage, it should drink well for 20-25 years.

Only 1,300 cases of this wine are made despite the incorporation of what used to be the St.-Emilion classified growth estate, Chateau Magdelaine (also owned by the Jean-Pierre Moueix family). Belair-Monange has come of age and since Christian Moueix’s son, Edouard, has made it his residence and assumed the responsibility of making it one of the key superstars of the Right Bank. The vineyard, situated next to Ausone, has always had fabulous potential, but it was rarely realized under the previous administration. About 50% new oak is used for this cuvee, which is largely Merlot with some very old vine Cabernet Franc (planted in the early 1900s). Two-thirds of the vineyard sits on pure limestone and the other third is on clay over limestone.
Robert Parker - Wine Advocate - Apr 2013 Read more
Jancis Robinson MW17/20
Deep cherry red. Lifted pure fruit, both red and black. Aromatic and fresh. Leafily scented on the palate, then just a little too smooth on the palate, tannins almost too gentle. But refined and harmonious, lacking a little in what I think of as the classic/classy austerity of Moueix. Still delicious and good depth of gentle fruit in the middle, and sustained.
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com, 29 Apr 2013 Read more
Robert Parker93-95/100
Aromas of licorice, black currants, kirsch, lavender, truffles and crushed chalk are present in the stunningly intense and precise aromatics. Medium to full-bodied and dense ruby/purple-hued with rich, flowing fruit and glycerin, the wine cascades over the palate with no hard edges. A superstar of the vintage, it should drink well for 20-25 years.

Only 1,300 cases of this wine are made despite the incorporation of what used to be the St.-Emilion classified growth estate, Chateau Magdelaine (also owned by the Jean-Pierre Moueix family). Belair-Monange has come of age and since Christian Moueix’s son, Edouard, has made it his residence and assumed the responsibility of making it one of the key superstars of the Right Bank. The vineyard, situated next to Ausone, has always had fabulous potential, but it was rarely realized under the previous administration. About 50% new oak is used for this cuvee, which is largely Merlot with some very old vine Cabernet Franc (planted in the early 1900s). Two-thirds of the vineyard sits on pure limestone and the other third is on clay over limestone.
Robert Parker - Wine Advocate - Apr 2013 Read more
Decanter17/20
First vintage incorporating (a parcel of) Magdelaine. Continues the trend towards a riper, broader style. Round and plush but with a fresh, dry finish. Read more

About this WINE

Chateau Belair-Monange

Chateau Belair-Monange

Château Belair, a St. Emilion Grand Cru Classé property is owned by Madame Dubois-Challon who is also co-owner of Château Ausone. Her late husband Jean purchased it in 1916. The same "régisseur" responsible for the rise in quality of the wines of Ausone over the past 20 years, the "philosopher-winemaker" Pascal Delbeck has also been responsible for improvements in quality at Belair.

The 13-hectare Belair vineyard is situated mainly on the St. Martin limestone plateau and the average age of the vines is 35 years including some that were planted around 1900. The blend is typically 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc.

The winemaking is meticulous with the grapes are hand picked into plastic baskets then sorted, de-stalked, gently crushed and transferred into stainless steel tanks by way of a moving conveyor belt using a prototype machine known as the Vinosaur. The wine is aged in 60 per cent new oak barrels the wood for which is selected and dried in the open air at Belair. About 55,000 bottles produced each year.

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St Émilion

St Émilion

St Émilion is one of Bordeaux's largest producing appellations, producing more wine than Listrac, Moulis, St Estèphe, Pauillac, St Julien and Margaux put together. St Emilion has been producing wine for longer than the Médoc but its lack of accessibility to Bordeaux's port and market-restricted exports to mainland Europe meant the region initially did not enjoy the commercial success that funded the great châteaux of the Left Bank. 

St Émilion itself is the prettiest of Bordeaux's wine towns, perched on top of the steep limestone slopes upon which many of the region's finest vineyards are situated. However, more than half of the appellation's vineyards lie on the plain between the town and the Dordogne River on sandy, alluvial soils with a sprinkling of gravel. 

Further diversity is added by a small, complex gravel bed to the north-east of the region on the border with Pomerol.  Atypically for St Émilion, this allows Cabernet Franc and, to a lesser extent, Cabernet Sauvignon to prosper and defines the personality of the great wines such as Ch. Cheval Blanc.  

In the early 1990s there was an explosion of experimentation and evolution, leading to the rise of the garagistes, producers of deeply-concentrated wines made in very small quantities and offered at high prices.  The appellation is also surrounded by four satellite appellations, Montagne, Lussac, Puisseguin and St. Georges, which enjoy a family similarity but not the complexity of the best wines.

St Émilion was first officially classified in 1954, and is the most meritocratic classification system in Bordeaux, as it is regularly amended. The most recent revision of the classification was in 2012

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Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon lends itself particularly well in blends with Merlot. This is actually the archetypal Bordeaux blend, though in different proportions in the sub-regions and sometimes topped up with Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.

In the Médoc and Graves the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend can range from 95% (Mouton-Rothschild) to as low as 40%. It is particularly suited to the dry, warm, free- draining, gravel-rich soils and is responsible for the redolent cassis characteristics as well as the depth of colour, tannic structure and pronounced acidity of Médoc wines. However 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be slightly hollow-tasting in the middle palate and Merlot with its generous, fleshy fruit flavours acts as a perfect foil by filling in this cavity.

In St-Emilion and Pomerol, the blends are Merlot dominated as Cabernet Sauvignon can struggle to ripen there - when it is included, it adds structure and body to the wine. Sassicaia is the most famous Bordeaux blend in Italy and has spawned many imitations, whereby the blend is now firmly established in the New World and particularly in California and  Australia.

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