2012 Château Belair-Monange

The 2012 Bélair-Monange has a detailed and quite intense bouquet with black truffle and singed leather on the nose, complex and refined, gaining personality with time. Just a hint of antique bureau in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, very well balanced with a keen thread of acidity that lends tension. Touches of sour cherry and dried orange peel emerge towards the end of this pretty 2012. Worth seeking out. Tasted blind at the Southwold Ten-Year On tasting.

A brilliant showing, the 2012 Château Belair-Monange comes from a great terroir that is being resurrected by the Moueix team, located on a south-facing hillside just outside of Saint-Emilion. Sporting a deep ruby hue, it offers a beautiful bouquet of red and black fruits, truffly earth, graphite, and subtle smoke. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it's shed most of its baby fat and is just a classy, elegant, yet concentrated Saint-Emilion that does everything right. It's now in its prime drinking window, but I'd wager it has another two decades – or more – of overall longevity. Count yourself lucky if you have these in the cellar.

Not in the Farr tasting. Well-mannered nose but rather reticent. Definitely not pastiche style but the tannins are just slightly rustic. A bit pinched on the end. (JR)