Medium to full body with creamy, velvety tannins. Polished and plush. Pretty spice notes, such as white pepper and cloves to the ripe dark-plum and berry fruit. Some pine cones. Fine, ripe and textured. Concentrated for the vintage. Wonderful length, too.
James Suckling, May 2022

Lush raspberry and red cherry fruits, stone-strewn limestone salinity on the finish, complex and enjoyable. This has grilled oak smoke and is accomplished and finessed, lovely limestone character, tapers off slowly but surely on the finish. A clear success in the vintage, from an estate that is really flexing its muscles right now, up there with the very best in St Emilion. Harvest September 28 and October 2.
Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux, May 2022

Made from 99% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc, the 2021 Belair-Monange is medium to deep garnet-purple colored. It slowly unfurls to reveal perfumed waves of black cherries, raspberry coulis, lilacs, and jasmine tea, followed by hints of forest floor, powdered cinnamon, and star anise. The medium-bodied palate is so evocative, with impactfully intense and yet wonderfully restrained red and black fruit layers, supported by miraculously velvety tannins, leading to a long and so very fragrant finish. Just stunning!
Lisa Perrotti-Brown, May 2022

Offering up aromas of sweet cherries, cassis, pipe tobacco, loamy soil and spices, the 2021 Belair Monange is medium to full-bodied, supple and enveloping, with powdery tannins and a bright spine of acidity, concluding with a long, intensely saline finish. As young vines replanted on the plateau start to dominate the blend, the identity of this cru is becoming more and more marked, delivering wines of precision and sapidity.
William Kelley, April 2022

The 2021 Bélair-Monange is a very beautiful wine. Fruit forward and punchy, the 2021 makes quite a first impression. Ripeness is naturally less pushed here than in recent vintages - that is the year - but it is a style that works so well, as this site offers plenty of richness on its own. A rush of inky red/purplish fruit fills out the layers nicely. There's not a ton of nuance or detail yet, but that will likely come in time. This is very nicely done.
Antonio Galloni, Vinous, May 2022

Lovely inviting aromatics. The fruit here feels cooler and draws you in with cherries and delicate spice. A tight and precise entry expands generously in the mouth, giving way to fine mineral layers. Lovely texture and balance. An abundance of fresh, creamy fruit is pulled together with tension and energy. This powers on for a fine finish. A most enjoyable wine and one to watch.
April 2022

The 2021 Bélair-Monange was picked September 28 to October 2. It has an atypically ostentatious bouquet for the vintage – kirsch, blue fruit, a touch of violet petals – that needs to muster a little more delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly chewy tannins, fine acidity and good substance, yet it clamps down toward the strict, linear finish. This does not have the persistence of the 2019 or 2020, and tasting the bottle twice (returning later on in the day for a different take), I cannot help but feel this top-ranking Saint-Émilion is struggling to nail down its identity this season. It’s definitely one I wish to revisit in the future to see whether I caught it at an inopportune moment.
Neal Martin, Vinous, May 2022

Open and aromatic but with drive and definition on the palate. Fine tannins and freshness, the fruit and structure in balance. Gentle hand in extraction so more on elegance than power. (JL)
Drink 2028 – 2045
Jancisrobinson.com, May 2022