Château Bélair-Monange

Bélair-Monange is the House of Moueix's statement in Saint-Émilion: the ancient Château Bélair, occupying some of the appellation's greatest limestone beside Ausone, acquired in 2008 and renamed for the family matriarch Anne-Adèle Monange. The project has been pursued with typical Moueix seriousness — painstaking replanting of the plateau and côte, the absorption of neighboring Magdelaine in 2012, and a monumental restoration of the estate's crumbling quarries and cellars. Edouard Moueix directs, and the wine has risen with the work: Merlot and Cabernet Franc off pure limestone, chiseled rather than opulent, with the cool salinity and floral lift that mark the plateau's finest sites. A Premier Grand Cru Classé rebuilt into a contender for the appellation's summit.