Château Beau-Séjour Bécot Saint-Emilion 2019 - 1er Grand Cru Classé B

Bettane & Desseauve

About wine:

From vintage to vintage, this Beauséjour continues to improve. The 2019 vintage has three distinct flavors on the palate, with a silky tannin touch due to the deep clay soils, which also influence the mid-palate, where limestone also comes into play, extending the finish and giving the tannins a classy, pulpy character. Opened in December, the wine closed up in January, as with any premier cru classé, so patience is required.

About the estate:

Juliette Bécot now successfully perpetuates the rich, indulgent, intense, and flavorful character of this top-of-the-line product in excellent condition.

Decanter

About wine:

Rich plum color. This wine takes its time to open up, quite subtle at first, but then explodes with juicy fruit. Clear salinity where you can sense the slate of the limestone terroir, alongside well-expressed aromas of peony blossom. Elegant and succulent. Second vintage with Jean de Cournuaud as technical director. Yield of 46 hl/ha. 65% new wood, a mix of barrels and 20hl casks. 3.77pH. Harvested from September 18 to 21, with all the Merlot grapes picked in 3.5 days instead of the usual 11 days (and in fact spread over a month in 2018), with only 20 minutes between picking and vatting. Thomas Duclos consultant. 2028-2044

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

About the estate:

RVF - La Revue du Vin de France / Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France

About the estate:

Beautifully located in the central-western part of the Saint-Emilion limestone plateau, the vineyard is masterfully managed by the Bécot brothers, Dominique and Gérard, who produce an expressive wine with integrity and density. Gérard Bécot officially retired on January 2, 2014. Overall management has been entrusted to his son-in-law, Julien Barthe, husband of Juliette Bécot, who continues to oversee the winemaking process. Dominique Bécot, Gérard's brother, remains at the head of the vineyard. His children Pierre and Caroline also work on the estate. In January 2014, Beauséjour purchased Château Haut-Pourret, 2.5 hectares on the south coast, which will be vinified in the La Gomerie cellar under the Le Bécot de Beau-Séjour label. Winemaking methods are evolving, aiming for an elegant approach to the fruit, seeking to give volume to the firmness and length of wines produced from limestone. Maintaining its status as a premier grand cru classé in 2012, the château obtained authorization to integrate the La Gomerie plot into its cadastre.

James Suckling

About wine:

Plum, redcurrant, pine cone, mushroom, and bark on the nose. A hint of licorice too. Medium-bodied with very tight tannins. Fresh with fantastic tension and dynamism. Refined and concentrated. Spicy and slightly salty on the finish. Try it in 2026.

Le Figaro vins

About wine:

The purity of ripe, caressing red fruits blends with the summer fragrance of a woman in bloom, with notes of rose and dahlia. Fresh, enticing, comforting, and pure on the palate, it finishes with a mineral finish, chalky nuances, and kitten-tongue tannins.

Yves Beck

About wine:

Right from the start, the bouquet of BSB (it's easier to write, note that the addendum takes me three times longer) sets the tone! Well, the nose, anyway. Given its complexity and subtlety, one can only rejoice in savoring it. Subtle notes of morello cherries, marzipan, blackberries, and graphite. On the palate, finesse reigns supreme. The wine is delicious, precise, well supported by the tension of its acidic structure and the gracefulness of its tannins. What energy! The palate is also distinguished by its aromatic intensity, which is omnipresent from the attack. What a great wine, shining with its ability to sing in tune and share its melody far and wide, without being loud! 2025-2045

Vert de Vin

About wine:

The nose is fruity, fresh and offers complexity, depth, a very beautiful finesse of grain and a certain intensity of finesse. There are notes of fresh/bright blackcurrant, wild blackberry and, more subtly, gray pepper and violet, combined with hints of wild raspberry, fresh purple plum, graphite, toasted almond and a touch of fresh cinnamon stick. There is a subtle hint of fresh citrus in the background. The palate is fruity, balanced, beautifully racy, controlled and offers juiciness, a lovely brightness and a lovely pulpy/bright fruit with a slightly exuberant side (but a controlled exuberance). A lovely little touch of finesse. On the palate, this wine expresses notes of bright/tart blackcurrant, redcurrant and, more subtly, crisp/fresh raspberry, combined with a touch of tart plum, hints of fresh flowers, sweet spices and a very subtle hint of caramelization. The tannins are fine, precise, elegant and delicate.

The Wine Cellar Insider - Jeff Leve

About wine:

Deep, dark, rich, full-bodied, concentrated, and lively, this wine is bursting with black and red stone fruits, crushed stones, chocolate, licorice, flowers, and forest leaves. It is powerful, refined, deep, and fresh, with a finish that resonates with all its ripe fruit and a touch of salinity in the long finish. This is the third vintage with Thomas Duclos as consultant, and each year seems to improve. Beau-Séjour Bécot is on a roll right now! Give this wine a few years in the bottle and enjoy it for at least two decades thereafter. Drink between 2026 and 2055.