Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
A blend of 70% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2005 Beau-Sejour-Becot is another terrific 2005 that’s still young, yet offers plenty of pleasure. Crème de cassis, graphite and chocolate characteristics all emerge from this broad, fabulously pure, concentrated beauty. It’s just at the early stages of its drinking plateau and has another 2-3 decades of primes drinking ahead of it. Bravo!
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
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+.
-
Connoisseurs' Guide
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.
-
Wine Spectator
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.
-
Wine & Spirits
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.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Marked by its historic fortified village—perhaps the prettiest in all of Bordeaux, the St-Émilion appellation, along with its neighboring village of Pomerol, are leaders in quality on the Right Bank of Bordeaux. These Merlot-dominant red wines (complemented by various amounts of Cabernet Franc and/or Cabernet Sauvignon) remain some of the most admired and collected wines of the world.
St-Émilion has the longest history in wine production in Bordeaux—longer than the Left Bank—dating back to an 8th century monk named Saint Émilion who became a hermit in one of the many limestone caves scattered throughout the area.
Today St-Émilion is made up of hundreds of independent farmers dedicated to the same thing: growing Merlot and Cabernet Franc (and tiny amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon). While always roughly the same blend, the wines of St-Émilion vary considerably depending on the soil upon which they are grown—and the soils do vary considerably throughout the region.
The chateaux with the highest classification (Premier Grand Cru Classés) are on gravel-rich soils or steep, clay-limestone hillsides. There are only four given the highest rank, called Premier Grand Cru Classés A (Chateau Cheval Blanc, Ausone, Angélus, Pavie) and 14 are Premier Grand Cru Classés B. Much of the rest of the vineyards in the appellation are on flatter land where the soils are a mix of gravel, sand and alluvial matter.
Great wines from St-Émilion will be deep in color, and might have characteristics of blackberry liqueur, black raspberry, licorice, chocolate, grilled meat, earth or truffles. They will be bold, layered and lush.