Anson: A vertical of Château Bélair-Monange

The buzz around Château Bélair-Monange is becoming increasingly audible, making this vertical tasting one of the most exciting that I’m likely to do this year.

For a start, this is a property sat on one of the most alluring spots in Bordeaux, up at 90m on the limestone plateau of St-Emilion, joining châteaux such as Canon, Troplong Mondot, Beauséjour Bécot and others who are all busy making their own noise and drawing the wine world’s attention to the potential of this location.Since 2012 it has been the amalgamation of two of the plateau’s most fascinating properties, both premier Grand Cru Classé since the first classification in 1955, Château Magdelaine and Château Belair. Unlike in the Médoc, bringing two classified properties together in St-Emilion is not a given. It is something that could only be achieved by getting the National Appellations’ body (the INAO) to agree that 100% of its soils were of similar type and quality – neatly drawing attention to the fact that terroir, not just car parks and Parker points, counts in the St-Emilion ranking and thereby giving the beleaguered classification some rare positive press.

And it is now just over ten years into ownership by one of the most powerful families on the Right Bank in the shape of Ets JP Moueix, with all the attendant expectation that brings with it.

Christian and Edouard Moueix, who jointly run Ets JP Moeuix today, bought Belair in 2008, and immediately re-christened it Bélair-Monange after Christian’s grandmother Adèle Monange, who was the first of the Moueix family to live in St-Emilion when the family moved from Corrèze to Bordeaux.

They made clear from the start that they had big plans for the property, but much of the initial investment was sunk into emergency restoration work on the miles of underground quarries that were, it turned out, close to collapse. And then just four years later, they almost doubled its 12.5ha size with the addition of the 11ha of Château Magdelaine, an estate that had been owned by Moueix since 1952. They have also since bought Clos la Madeleine which for now has been kept separate.

Plenty of people were sad about Magdelaine disappearing in 2012 (Jean-Claude Berrouet among them, and me for what it’s worth), but Edouard was always sure that it was a good idea. ‘Even if it took me a few years to convince everyone involved,’ he says now.

What is certain is that it gave them more flexibility during the extensive vineyard work that has been carried out over the past ten years, and has meant access to a complexity of soils that is reflected in the construction and aromatic breadth of the wine, particularly over the last few vintages.

The estate is now comprised of 7.5ha on the high plateau with hard limestone soils extremely close to the surface, 8ha on the high slopes and another 8ha on south-facing côtes where there are Molasses de Fronsadais soils with more clay cover.

Château Belair has spots of blue clay on its slopes that Magdelaine, which is a particularly interesting soil that offers power and concentration, but both are exceptional terroirs. Also worth noting that because both are 100% classified, they could be used in their entirety to furnish one single wine. As St-Emilion classifies only the best terroir, many classified properties do not enjoy the ranking across their entire vineyard holdings.

However, from 2014 the Moueix family introduced Annonce de Bélair-Monange as a second label, not something the family does often, by the way, with just Trotanoy and Bélair-Monange having second wines out of their portfolio. A new cellar is due over the next few years.

You just have to look at the number of bottles produced to realise that this is a work in progress – 18,000 bottles in 2012, 31,000 in 2014, 17,000 in 2013, 28,000 in 2015 – but the direction of travel is becoming clear.

This is a wine that is starting to justify the hype, and I’m all in to see what the next decade brings.

Figures

23.5ha, Asteries limestone on plates, blue clay over limestone on slopes.

90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc planted.

Haute Valeur Environmentale 3

Soil tilling, optical and manual sorting.

50% new oak for first wine, 30% for second wine.

Haut Plateau 7.5ha, Terraces 8ha, Cotes 8ha. (Terraces means upper slopes)