18 WEINWISSER: "Tiefes Purpur. Recht tiefes Bouquet, erdige Noten, Sommertrüffel, dunkle Pflaumen, Kakaonoten. Im Gaumen feinfleischig, warmes Extrakt, die Gerbstoffe sind aussen rund, innen noch verlangend. Überzeugt durch Schönheit und Harmonie."
94 WINESPECTATOR: "Rather toasty today, with mocha and baker´s chocolate notes weaving around the dense core of black currant and plum sauce. Flashes of hoisin sauce and tar add a nicely edgy feel on the long, dense finish, which needs cellaring to unwind fully. But there´s some serious minerality buried here, so this will be worth the wait. Best from 2015 through 2030. 1,350 cases made. –JM"
95 JAMES SUCKLING: "Aromas of berries, chili and a hint of toasted oak. Full body, with velvety tannins and a long, long finish. Juicy and beautiful. Really builds on the palate. One of the best wines ever from here. Super quality. Try in 2018."
93+ ANTONIO GALLONI: "Bright, deep ruby-red. Aromas of cassis, blackberry and spices complicated by menthol, herbs and earth. Rich, layered and deep, with its round, broad dark berry, cherry and licorice flavors given punch by penetrating chalky minerality. This impressively concentrated and focused wine really tightened up in the glass, and its firm tannic spine and great finesse suggest that it will be long-lived. Sure to be the best vintage to date for this label, which was previously Chateau Belair until Christian Moueix in 2008 purchased from Pascal Delbeck the part of Belair that he did not already own and then renamed the property."
95 THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "The nose has really opened here. The ripe, rich, supple, plummy fruits, crushed rock, violets and earth, add even more to the full, bodied, concentrated wine. Even though it is still young, it is impossible not to enjoy how this stunner is developing."
96 THE WINEADVOCATE: "An absolutely magnificent wine from Christian Moueix and his son Edouard, this wine is right up there with their 2009 and may eclipse it in terms of its potential longevity. Dense purple, with a near-liqueur of crushed rocks and chalk intermixed with blueberry, black raspberry and cassis, this wine is very full-bodied for a Belair, with ethereal complexity and impressive texture and length. I believe this is the first vintage of the wine to be released in an engraved bottle, which seems to be the direction of all the top estates in the Jean-Pierre Moueix stable. More evidence of concerned Bordelais attempting to stop criminals intent on producing fraudulent bottles of these limited production wines. Forget this baby for 7-8 years and then look for it to evolve over three decades-plus. Obviously, the Moueix family has been investing considerable money and effort into this famous vineyard, which was one of Bordeaux’s most notable underachievers for many decades. It is certainly back now, with yields cut drastically, and the fruit harvested at a much riper stage, producing a wine that truly exploits this great terroir adjacent to Ausone."
