Cellar Selection. With ripe, spicy fruit, this is a concentrated, dense wine. It has young, firm tannins that are beginning to integrate with the juicy black fruits and fine, perfumed acidity. This is a serious wine, showing how well this estate is developing even in a difficult year. Drink this from 2022.

(91-93 points) Spice, earth and red fruits lead to supple tannins and a soft, spicy black raspberry finish. Forward in style, this will be fun to taste young. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-tasting-note/?vintage=2013&wine=Chateau%20Belair-Monange

Bright, with damson plum, cherry pit and blood orange notes that are slightly crunchy along the edges, as perky acidity drives underneath. The finish picks up rooibos tea and perfumy floral notes before the chalky minerality strides in at the very end, giving this a slightly austere finish. A terrific effort in the vintage.--Non-blind Bélair-Monange vertical (December 2016). Best from 2018 through 2028. 1,200 cases made. –JM

This is fruit-forward, with raspberry and redcurrant notes and a beautiful smoky edge. 2013 was the most challenging vintage of recent years, and yet this is gulpable stuff. It's extremely good for the year, helped by the complexity of the vineyard. Although the limestone plateau found it tough to ripen, the south-facing slopes were warmer and therefore the grapes for this wine were largely drawn from there. It was also helped by the fact that behind the scenes they were working on the creation of a second wine - the first commercial release of which was 2014 - allowing for greater selection in the grand vin at this point.

Clear grilled and charred oak, good grip, more so than many, with the limestone fingers exerting their magic, giving a sense of purpose that so many of the 2013s lack. One of the more successful ones, with red cherry and raspberry fruit, although again tertiary notes of blue cheese, salted cracker on the finish.