Chateau Beausejour Duffau-Lagarrosse Premier Grand Cru Classe B, Saint-Emilion G_ 2015

This is extraordinary. There has never been a wine like this here since the famous 1990 or underrated 1989. Violets, flowers, stones and limestone. Oyster-shell undertones. Full-bodied, muscular and so structured. A phenomenal wine that reminds me of the great Bordeaux of the 1950s. Try in 2026.

One of the undisputed stars of the vintage, the 2015 Beauséjour Héritiers Duffau-Lagarrosse is dark, brooding and explosive to its core. The essence of super-ripe dark cherry, plum, graphite, crushed rocks, gravel, smoke and incense infuses a dramatic, sweeping Saint-Émilion endowed with superb power and intensity. Sumptuous, spectacularly rich and also massively structured, the 2015 is going to need at least a decade to come into its own. Those lucky enough to find it are in for a treat, as the 2015 is a total stunner. Nicolas Thienpont and his team hit a number of home runs in 2015, including at Beauséjour Héritiers Duffau-Lagarrosse, where both wines are simply great. Tasted two times with consistent notes.

Nicolas Thienpont and Stéphane Derenoncourt were in charge of the winemaking at Beauséjour back in 2015, producing exceptional bottles, and this is a standout success. Perhaps smokier on the opening than you would find today, generous and fleshy in its delivery of brambled autumnal fruit, with ripe black cherry and luscious damson but with the restraint and slate edging that bring you into the heart of the limestone soils. Love this wine, and it sings in 2015.

From a bottle purchased here in the United States, the 2015 Beausejour Duffau-Lagarrosse is a wine that should be purchased by the case (which is what I intend to do). This incredible blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc offers sensational purity in its crème de cassis, blueberry, graphite, lead pencil, licoice and forest floor-driven aromas and flavors. This is a big, rich, opulent wine, yet it has awesome purity and focus, with a distinct minerality keeping it fresh, focused and lively on the palate. Possessing ripe, sweet tannin, an inherent elegance and purity, perfect balance, and an awesome finish, this incredible Saint-Emilion is unquestionably one of the wines of the vintage. Do not miss it.

Rich, tight, powerful and silky - an extremely accomplished wine in a great vintage. It's big but in control, with sweeping notes of liquorice and dark chocolate. It needs time to soften, but holds all the cards.

The 2015 Beauséjour Duffau Lagarrosse was tasted twice. The bottle tasted blind at Farr's did not show well, but this one was better. It has a ripe and forward bouquet cut from a similar cloth to the Pavie-Macquin (both made by Nicolas Thienpont), though this has more delineation and freshness. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, a crisp line of acidity, gentle grip and tension. Perhaps the bottle that I drank in 2019 had a little more complexity on the finish. It seems to have lost some character since then, but this remains a commendable wine from a previous era of the château.