Chateau Beau-Sejour Becot Premier Grand Cru Classe B, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2019

The 2019 Beau-Séjour-Bécot is a powerful, explosive wine. Dark fruit, chocolate, cured meats and earthy notes lend quite a bit of depth. Compared with its neighbors, Beau-Séjour-Bécot is dark, broad and broodingly tannic, sometimes more power than finesse. There is plenty of character, though. That much is evident. Beau-Séjour-Bécot speaks with authority as it commands attention.

Plums, currants, pine cones, mushrooms and bark on the nose. Some licorice, too. It’s medium-bodied with tightly knit tannins. Tight and fresh with fantastic tension and drive. Refined and focused. Spicy and lightly salty at the end. Try in 2026.

Rich plum colour. This takes its time to open, is pretty subtle at first, but then explodes in juicy fruit. Clear salinity where you can feel the slate scrape of the limestone terroir, alongside well expressed aromatics with touches of peony flowers. Elegant and succulent. Second vintage with Jean de Cournuaud as technical director. A yield of 46hl/ha. 65% new oak, with a mix of barrels and 20hl casks. 3.77pH. Harvest 18-21 September, with all the Merlots in 3.5 days instead of the usual 11 days (and in fact stretched over one month in 2018), with just 20 minutes from picking to vat. Thomas Duclos consultant.

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2019 Beau-Sejour Becot saunters out with easy-going scents of juicy blackberries and plum preserves, followed by hints of cedar, potpourri, and fallen leaves. The medium to full-bodied palate is elegantly styled and refreshing, with very fine-grained tannins and a mineral lift on the finish.

The 2019 Beau-Séjour-Bécot just lacks a bit of energy on the nose, dusky black fruit, sous-bois and dry tobacco. Old school. The palate is medium-bodied with finely-hewn tannins, very well balanced, lovely purity with a caressing and persistent finish. Classy winemaking. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting.

The 2019 Beau-Séjour Bécot has turned out nicely, wafting from the glass with aromas of cassis, wild berries, raw cocoa, spices and loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy, it's deep and layered, with a rich mid-palate that's underpinned by succulent acids and powdery tannins. Located opposite Château Canon on Saint-Émilion's limestone plateau, there's some significant restructuring going on in the vineyards here, and in the cellar, foudres, amphorae and once-used barrels complement new oak: the result is the best wines this estate has produced in the modern era.