Chateau Beau-Sejour-Becot 2005

"The bottled 2005 Beau Sejour Becot confirms that this is the finest effort from this estate in the thirty years I have been covering Bordeaux. A classic blend of 70% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, it is an intense, full-bodied St.-Emilion revealing notes of espresso roast, chocolate, blackberries, licorice, and truffles. With sweet but noticeable tannins, good acidity, and a powerful, long finish, this textbook St.-Emilion cuts a swath between the modern school of winemaking and the traditionalists. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2030+."

94 Points

The Wine Advocate

"Something of a poster child for the very ripe 2005 St. Emilions, Beau-Sejour-Becot is an opulent, very ripe wine with a sense of richness seen from provenance in very few years. Its extracted, black cherry themes are underlain by a bit of stony "terroir", and, if both tannic and a touch hot at the end, it never loses its grasp on deep fruit. It has the stuffing to ensure lengthy keeping, and we would not be surprised if it improves for a decade or more."

93 Points

Connoisseurs' Guide

"Offers aromas of blackberry, coffee and tar, with a full body, silky tannins and a blackberry, mineral and light vanilla aftertaste. Balanced, refined and pretty. Best after 2014. 5,830 cases made."

92 Points

Wine Spectator

"Good ruby-red. Very ripe but lively aromas of kirsch, licorice, bitter chocolate, nuts and violet. Dense and sweet but vibrant, with a medicinal reserve and terrific grip to the superripe fruit and bitter chocolate flavors. Wonderfully rich, pliant wine with late-arriving tannins and a terrific spine for a slow evolution in bottle. Much more tightly wound today than the Becot family's La Gomerie, but there's plenty of fat fruit lurking."

92 Points

International Wine Cellar

"Saturated and rich, this wine is black in color and all mocha in aroma. The bold strawberry flavors are larger than life, the tannins integrated. It's all about power, with no way to tell what's underneath. Cellar it, and you'll either get a delicious, rich red, or something more distinctive as the power and the oak begin to fade."

90 Points

Wine & Spirits