Andrew Jefford: Saturated dark black-red. Sweet, warm, earthy, plump, and ripe, with beautifully lifted black-cherry and ripe bramble fruits: lots of aromatic enchantment. There’s some citrusgrove ripeness, too. On the palate, this is soft and graceful, amply fruity, supported by firm, dense, chewy fruit tannins and with great acidic penetration and length; a hint of anise on the finish. Polished and incisive compared to the very rich, open-pored 2009 and 2010, with much tighter fruits. This is a very serious, ambitious Bélair- Monange that asks quite a lot of its drinkers but rewards them in equal measure. 2018–26. 93