2023 Château Beychevelle, St Julien, Bordeaux

61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot. Cask sample.

Floral nose. Elegant texture and tannins. Suave, smooth and fresh. It’s not quite the depth of a top year, but it has all the components. 

Drink 2030 - 2045

The 2023 Beychevelle was picked from September 13 through October 6 over 17 days of harvest, partly because of the size of the crop and not having to rush. It has the highest proportion of Merlot under winemaker Philippe Blanc 35%), and it matured in 70% new oak.

This has a notably floral and tightly-knit bouquet, leaning a little more toward blue fruit than other Saint-Julien wines tasted from barrel. The oak is nicely integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with strict tannins that impart a sense of linearity. Very saline, this is a saliva-inducing Beychevelle, lightly spiced with a structured, almost Pauillac-like finish. Excellent.

Drink 2029 - 2055

It's a blend of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot that represents 50% of the estate's production.

The 2023 Beychevelle has turned out especially well this year, exhibiting a more integrated, seductive style than recent vintages that were constructed in a punchier, more extracted register. Offering up aromas of cassis and plums mingled with notions of pen ink, violets and pencil shavings, it's medium to full-bodied, broad and fleshy, with a deep core of fruit and a classy, suave profile that foregrounds the estate's prime vineyard holdings on the plateau around Ducru-Beaucaillou.

The 2023 hit 13.3% alcohol with a rock-solid pH of 3.67.

From a château that seems to have hit another gear over the past five to seven years, the 2023 Château Beychevelle is based on 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot, pulled from 60% of the total production, and will see 18 months in 70% new French oak. Its deep purple hue is followed by a deep, rich, medium to full-bodied Saint-Julien loaded with ripe red and blue fruits, leafy herbs, truffle, iron, and spring flowers. It's medium to full-bodied, has a remarkable sense of freshness and purity, velvety tannins, and outstanding length.

Pure fruit to this, with blueberries, hazelnuts, walnut and blackcurrants. Just like eating grapes at this stage. It has a full body, juicy tannins and a savory finish. Remains vivid and energetic.

The 2023 Beychevelle is fabulous. As always, Beychevelle includes quite a bit more Merlot than most wines in the appellation, but the Cabernet is especially high here. Inky dark fruit, crème de cassis, mocha, licorice and lavender build in the glass. This juicy, extroverted Saint-Julien has a ton to offer. The combination of fruit intensity, acid and supporting structure is superb. The 2023 is showy, but not at all overdone. Beychevelle remains one of the most distinctive wines in all of Bordeaux. It is especially classy in this edition.

Drink 2033 - 2063

Plummy red fruits, fresh acidities, sculpted tannic architecture, this has balance and finesse, white pepper, capsicum spice, black tea, cigar box, liquorice root, rose petals, fine tannins, St Julien balance with a kick of smoked oak on the finish.

Drink 2029 - 2044

Highest ever proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend. 6% press wine. Yields around 50hl/ha. 50% grand vin production. Ageing 18 months, 70% new oak. 1/3 aged in one-year barrels.

A fragrant and floral note, fully expressive aromatically with strawberries and red cherries, you can definitely smell the Petit Verdot on the nose - intense. Clean and clear, a lovely weight in the mouth. Smooth but grippy too, tannins are svelte and super fine, this has nice ripe fruit, good body and mouthfeel and a long finish. Juicy, almost fleshy, this has some weight in the mouth. I like the depth, this has some chew, a soft hint of sweetness plus creamy chalkiness plus a lovely lift on the finish. Cool and crisp but well managed. Really excellent and very accessible, juicy and elegant.

Drink 2029 - 2044