(JA 98-100 points) Beautiful quality here, all about measured delivery of the character of the vintage, with a slab of limestone minerality that sits squarely in the mid palate, emphasising the juicy pomegranate, orange rind, blackberry and raspberry fruits that slowly inch around, Will take its time to fully reveal, this is a really slow build and a vintage that needs time from this kind of terroir, but it's got all it need to go the distance. 35hl/h yield. 26ha, harvest September 8 to 20, Edouard Moueix owner and director. Potential 100.

(97-99 points) Dark in color, the wine pops with its notes of flowers, licorice, plums, espresso and chocolate-covered cherries in the perfume. But, it is on the palate which somehow remains perfectly balanced between all of the wines concentration, intensity, richness, and freshness. Nothing is out of place. On the palate, the wine is plush, soft, polished, fresh, vibrant, and long, finishing with crushed rocks, stones, chalk and bright, fresh, red fruits, with just a touch of spearmint on the backend. The wine blends 98% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc. Harvesting took place September 8 - September 20. Drink from 2027-2055. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-tasting-note/?vintage=2022&wine=Chateau%20Belair-Monange

(TWI 97-99 points) Composed of 98% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc, the 2022 Belair-Monange has a deep garnet-purple color. It needs considerable swirling to unlock scents of blackberry preserves, mulberries, and plum pudding, followed by suggestions of chocolate box, cinnamon toast, Indian spices, and candied violets with a hint of tilled soil. Full-bodied, rich, concentrated, and truly impactful, the palate is beautifully layered and so, so plush, finishing very long and opulent. Pure decadence. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

A fabulous wine in the making. Perfumed aromatics on the nose, ripe black fruits and purple flowers. Clean and intense, grippy straight away, the tannins give the impact and hold the attention, ripe fruit, but lean cool mineral tannins that provide both the freshness and sense of structure. Focussed with bite and depth, stylish and sure, I love the liquorice tang, not spiced at all but giving an extra level of minerality, terroir and freshness. Still quite shy to an extent, it's serious but so polished and pure. Refined and superbly well built. Juicy but controlled, not too sharp, or severe, quiet, calm, persistent and well balanced. Gorgeous terroir markers and a chalky texture on the finish that is so moreish. Potential upscore in bottle. Harvest 8-20 September.

(JS 97-98 points) Loads of mocha, red fruits and hazenut. Nuts too. Wild strawberries and violets. Full-bodied and juicy with dusty and fine tannins that spread across the palate. Lovely soft texture. Elegant and long at the end. Rich and juicy at the end. 98% merlot and 2% cabernet franc.

(VN 96-98 points) The 2022 Bél-Air Monange was picked from 8 to 20 September. It offers copious red fruit on the nose laced with graphite and sous-bois scents, gaining complexity in the glass. I love the detail and delineation of this wine. The palate is medium-bodied with finely-sculpted tannins that frame the layered mineral-rich fruit. Supremely focused with a surfeit of tension on the finish, there's an abiding sense of harmony and completeness to this Saint-Émilion that feels draped in limestone. A wine befitting their eye-catching new château building. -- Neal Martin

(95-97+ points) Another beautiful vintage for this cuvée, the 2022 Château Belair-Monange is 98% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc coming from a mix of terroirs on the upper plateau and hillside vineyard just outside of Saint-Emilion. This dense plum-hued effort offers up an incredible bouquet of black raspberries, chalky minerality, spring flowers, and graphite. Rich, full-bodied, and concentrated, it has an incredibly sense of minerality, a great mid-palate, and enough structure to warrant a solid 7-8 years of bottle age.

(WA 94-95 points) Aromas of blackberries, cherry preserve, black tea and licorice introduce the 2022 Belair Monange, a full-bodied, deep and powerful wine with a layered, somewhat liqueured core of fruit, powdery tannins and a long, expansive and slightly heady finish. Perhaps because the vines are younger, this is the cuvée in the Mouiex portfolio that shows the ripeness of the vintage the most this year. - William Kelley