2015 Belair-Monange

The wine keeps getting better and better. Flowers and stone, with cherry pipe tobacco, licorice and cocoa easily fills the perfume. Full boded, concentrated, rich and deep, the wine is silky, long and loaded with sweet fruits. As the wine lingers on your palate, the flavors expand, leaving you with dark chocolate, plum and stone that stays with you for close to 45 seconds. This should age for 2-3 decades with little effort. Give it time before popping a cork.

This perhaps somewhat controversial marriage between the estates of Chateau Belair and Chateau Magdelaine—both Premier Grand Cru Classe Saint-Emilion estates—to form Chateau Belair Monange hits pay-dirt with this spectacular 2015 release. Composed of 88% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc, the medium to deep garnet-purple colored 2015 Belair Monange has the most singular nose of grilled meats, smoked game, iron ore and fallen leaves over a slowly unfurling ripe fruit core of crushed black plums, blackberry preserves and cassis with fragrant touches of star anise and potpourri. Full-bodied, rich and opulent in the mouth, the palate reveals an arresting backbone of exquisitely ripe, very firm tannins and sparks of background acidity lifting and defining the rich, densely packed layers, culminating in an epically long and multifaceted finish. Possessing its own compellingly beautiful signature, this is a remarkably riveting wine that should not be missed.

A huge, intense Saint-Émilion, the Bélair-Monange is just as impressive from bottle as it was from cask. That's the good news. The not-so-good news is that the wine is going to need at least a decade to shed some of its considerable baby fat. A rush of super-ripe black cherry, game, smoke and tobacco hits the palate as this dramatic, unrestrained Saint-Émilion shows off its explosive personality. The 2015 speaks with an assertive voice that demands attention – and it got mine, that’s for sure. The blend is 88% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc.