Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
This is a finely balanced wine that's ripe and structured at the same time. It has richness and spice, with a powerful context of wood, juicy blackberry fruits and delicious acidity. With such concentration, this is a wine with excellent ageing potential.
Barrel sample:93-95 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted blind at the Southwold Bordeaux tasting. The 2012 Beauséjour Bécot had a strange bouquet at first, a little funkiness that soon dissipates with several swirls of the glass. I like the delineation here, nuanced red cherry and wild strawberry scents, black tea and undergrowth, though I noticed that it becomes just a little volatile with aeration—something to watch out for. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, foursquare for a Saint Emilion and yet nicely focused, just the right amount of dryness, if not quite delivering the requisite complexity and tension on the finish. This is one of those wines that is "nearly there" and needs bottle age, but I am certain it will come good once it has settled down. Tasted January 2016.
Rating: 91+ -
Wine Spectator
This has a nice core of bramble-edged plum and blackberry pâte de fruit flavors, underscored with lightly singed alder and juniper hints. A mineral note maintains a little tension through the finish. This should age nicely in the mid-term. Best from 2016 through 2022.
-
Decanter
Ripe and savoury on the nose. Palate sweet and plump but fresh. Firm, long, dry finish. Tannins a little angular. La Gomerie now incorporated.
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.