Christian Moueix explained that 2011 was the first vintage where the harvesting was organized here to target old vines of a similar age to be picked together, as he went along with the harvesters pointing out which...
Christian Moueix explained that 2011 was the first vintage where the harvesting was organized here to target old vines of a similar age to be picked together, as he went along with the harvesters pointing out which parcels to pick this year. As he noted, “it is pretty difficult for even a well-trained harvesting team to be able to tell the difference between a forty and a seventy-five year-old vine, but each can reach optimal ripeness at slightly different times, so it was important to help them differentiate between various ages of old vines in the vineyard at Bélair-Monange this year.” Having done so, Monsieur Moueix is confident that the 2011 Bélair-Monange is the finest wine he has yet produced from this superb estate. The brilliant nose offers up a cool and classy mélange of red and black cherries, a bit of raspberry, menthol, a touch of tobacco leaf, nutskin, utterly refined soil tones and a very suave and discreet base of new wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, pure and tight, with a very soil-driven personality, a rock solid core, superb focus and balance and a very long, ripely tannic and laser-like finish. This is unequivocally one of the wines of the vintage this year! (Drink between 2025-2075)