Château Beau-Séjour Bécot 2023

The 2023 vintage in Saint-Émilion

Vintage benchmark: 92/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: Mildew cost a good share of the harvest; what was brought in is early, fresh and promising.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Saint-Émilion. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

Tasting

"A majestic, opulent nose that envelops the nostrils, asserting itself gently with black and purple fruits spilling out of the glass. On the palate, the perfectly ripe fruit is juicy and succulent, with notes of blackberry and black plum, before a sappy, spicy finish. The subtlety shown by the bouquet says a lot about the depth of Beau-Séjour Bécot 2023. A very fine balancing act between ripe yet fresh black fruits, without tipping to either side. It must be said that the floral character ensures freshness with great relevance. The density on the palate is progressive; it evolves along the palate. Slender at first, the wine gains flesh as it moves along. The powerful tannins provide a very fine foundation, working in tandem with the structuring character of the acidity. The energies present are well channelled. They hint at the greatness of the wine without being demonstrative. Once again, a very fine performance by the Bécot family and their teams." - Yves Beck

Blend of the 2023 vintage

Figures from the 2023 sheet

• 14 % vol.Alcohol
• 39 hl/haYield
• 35 yrsVine age
• 80,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

Plot-by-plot selection.

Destemming, manual sorting, vatting at controlled temperature.

Traditional alcoholic fermentation (in 70 hl inverted truncated-cone vats). Vatting time averages 28 days.

Gentle, slow extraction in infusion mode.

Maceration protected from air (and oxidation) with the cap fully submerged.

Ageing

55% in new barrels, 20% in one-wine barrels, 25% in amphoras and 20 hl oak casks.

Terroir

The estate covers 15.92 ha and produces around 56,000 bottles a year. The soil is particularly suited to producing a wine of very high quality. It is characterised by a high concentration of clay-limestone with starfish fossils (calcaire à astéries) and is also hollowed out by galleries where the wines are stored. The vineyard is planted 70% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Franc and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, with vines averaging 40 years of age. Yields range between 30 and 38 hl/ha.