Fresh earth, truffle, sous bois and attractively ripe blueberry and plum aromas here. It’s a bold and very pure, primary wine here for now, yet this has great potential. The palate reveals beautifully ripe red-plum and cherry flavors with a powerful tannin statement that carries impressive depth and scale on the finish. Give this time. Try from 2023.

Score: 96 James Suckling (JS), JamesSuckling.com, January 2020

The 2017 Bélair-Monange is ripe and explosive in the glass, with tremendous fruit density and a real sense of power. Exotic spice, mocha, sweet pipe tobacco, cinnamon and floral notes add layers of nuance to a core of super-ripe dark red and purplish fruit in this sumptuous, flamboyantly ripe Saint-Émilion. Soft curves give the 2017 tons of immediacy, but there is also more than enough freshness and structure to support many years in the cellar.

Score: 96 Antonio Galloni (AG), Vinous Media (VM), March 2020

Made of 98% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc, the 2017 Belair Monange is medium to deep garnet-purple in color. With a little swirling, this baby comes bounding out of the glass with energetic notes of wild blueberries, Morello cherries, baked plums and black raspberries with wafts of Indian spices, lavender, garrigue and tobacco plus a hint of licorice. Medium to full-bodied, the black and blue fruit dance playfully on the palate with fantastic freshness to lift the bold flavors and a superb frame of ripe, velvety tannins. It finishes very long and with amazing zing. So tempting to drink now, but make no mistake—this is one for the long haul!

According to Christian Moueix, most of their frost damage happened to Lalande de Pomerol. At Chateau Belair, there is absolutely no production this year. Production for the lower parts of Pomerol was down by around 33%.

Score: 98 Lisa Perrotti-Brown (LPB), The Wine Advocate (WA), March 2020

The 2017 Bélair-Monange was so impressive out of barrel and now in bottle, I see no reason to alter my appreciation. It has a very intense bouquet, one that is reassuringly complex, especially in context of what was a rather ordinary growing season with copious red cherries, boysenberry, hints of iodine and a light terracotta scent. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannins that are surprisingly rigid at the moment, suggesting that this will be a long term Saint-Émilion. There is a beguiling sense of symmetry, very mineral-driven towards the finish that has impressive sapidity. This comes highly recommended although it deserves five or six years in bottle. Bravo Christian and Edouard Moueix.

Score: 96 Neal Martin (NM), Vinous Media (VM), February 2020