Château Bélair-Monange 2009

This extraordinary terroir, now exploited by Edouard Moueix, the son of Christian, seems to be coming to life in a dramatic fashion. Never a hedonistic wine, but very intellectual, the 2009 suggests a liqueur of crushed rocks intermixed with black currants and black cherries. Still somewhat closed, medium to full-bodied, and impressive rather than seductive, this is a structured wine that needs to be forgotten for at least a decade, and then drunk over the following 30+ years. If readers are looking for the quintessential example of a terroir-dominated wine, this is Lesson 101 in terroir. Score - 94+. (Robert Parker Jr., erobertparker.com, Feb. 2012)