Château Bélair-Monange

The château

For most of the 19th century this was the first name of Saint-Émilion. André Jullien, the Paris wine merchant whose Topographie de tous les vignobles connus of 1816 surveyed the vineyards of the world, set the Château du Bel-Air ahead of every other vine on the côte in his edition of 1832. The list of 1841 opened its first class with Bel-Air de Marignan at 25 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), and William Franck, whose Traité sur les vins du Médoc first appeared in 1824, headed his wines of the first marque in 1853 with Château-Belair, baron de Marignan. In 1868 Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, wrote that the cru had always stood at the head of the first growths of Saint-Émilion, and gave it 15 hectares and a very old château with cellars cut in the rock.

The Canolle family, descended from the English soldier Robert Knolles, governor of Guyenne, whose name was frenchified to Canolle, took Bélair in 1688. By 1752 it had reached about 13 hectares, the château went up in the 1750s, and by 1788 the wine was aged on the property. Phylloxera hit it hard: in 1897 the estate was 13 hectares, badly ravaged. Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix bought it in 2008 and renamed it for Monange, the maiden name of Jean-Pierre Moueix’s mother, the first woman of the family to come from the Corrèze to Saint-Émilion. In 2012 it was joined with Château Magdelaine, a Premier Grand Cru Classé B the house had held since 1952, and the list approved in September 2022 confirmed Bélair-Monange among the 14 Premiers Grands Crus Classés. Christian Moueix is president of the house and his son Edouard general director.

The 26 hectares lie in contiguous parcels on 3 soils: a thin layer of clay over astéries limestone on the plateau, which reaches 88 meters; blue clay over limestone rock on the south-facing terraces below; sandy clay over deep clay on the southern slopes. The planting is 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, and after 2008 a massale selection was taken from parcels planted at the end of the 19th century. Land is left fallow for 5 to 7 years and cover crops are sown parcel by parcel. The wine ferments in concrete and stainless steel and spends 16 to 18 months in French oak, half of it new. Herzog and de Meuron designed the new cellar, 74 meters by 36, from December 2015; work began in March 2019 and the building, which took in the 2022 harvest, was finished in April 2023. Annonce de Bélair-Monange is the second wine and Haut Roc Blanquant the third.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

Commune

Saint-Émilion

Classification

Premier Grand Cru Classé B in 2022; Michelin Guide, 1 grape (2026)

Owner

Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix, since 2008

Direction

Christian Moueix, president; Edouard Moueix, general director

Vineyard

26 hectares in contiguous parcels; joined with Château Magdelaine in 2012

Soil

Thin clay over astéries limestone on the plateau at 88 meters, blue clay over rock on the terraces, sandy clay over deep clay on the slopes Terroir of Saint-Émilion →

Grapes

Merlot 90%, Cabernet Franc 10%

Farming

Fallow of 5 to 7 years; cover crops by parcel; massale selection from 19th century vines

Cellar

Concrete and stainless steel; 16 to 18 months in French oak, 50% new; new cellar by Herzog and de Meuron, built 2019 to 2023

Wines

Château Bélair-Monange; Annonce de Bélair-Monange; Haut Roc Blanquant

In history

First on the Saint-Émilion côte in 1832, 1841 and 1853

Took in

Château Magdelaine