2009 Belair-Monange

This was the first year that the Moueix family was in charge from beginning to end. They had changed the name for the 2008 vintage from Belair to Bélair-Monange, but had only overseen the harvest. Immediate changes included manually working the soils, ploughing by hand to move the roots deeper down - former owner Pascal Delbeck didn't use chemicals but was a fan of fertiliser. They also increased the green harvest, dropping the crop to concentrate flavours until they could make more fundamental improvements to the vineyard. The results are enjoyable, with an attractive floral edge to the wine and rich raspberry, black cherry and blackcurrant coulis flavours helped by the natural power of the vintage. It doesn't have the concentration of some of the more recent vintages, but this is a lovely 2009. They were still vinifying and ageing in the former underground cellars of Belair at this point.

Tasted blind. Very pure and aromatic. Sleek and fresh. Racy. Nicely balanced with a hint of spearmint. Super-fresh finish. Vibrant and well balanced.

The sophomore 2009 Belair-Monange has been variable from bottle to bottle so I was taken aback at the impressive performance here. It has a very opulent bouquet with plush red fruit, patisserie, candied orange peel, fig and dates. This is very open and expressive, very gourmand in style and though atypical, it is very seductive. The palate is almost viscous on the entry with plush red fruit, a touch of black pepper and oregano, slightly medicinal in style but very persistent. Blind, I thought it might be Tertre-Rôteboeuf but it turned out not to be. Still, this is just a superb showing. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners' 2009 Bordeaux tasting.