Winemaker Notes
Blend: 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 Beau-Sejour Becot sails out of the glass with pronounced black cherries, kirsch, baked plums and boysenberries scents plus nuances of bay leaves, star anise and pencil shavings with a waft of roses. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers bags of juicy black fruits with a firm backbone of rounded tannins and bold freshness, finishing with great length and purity. Rating: 90+
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Wine Enthusiast
Freshness blends with a solid tannic structure in this ripe wine. It gives the wine a lift and succulent berry flavors and acidity. That combines with the dry core to promise great aging for a wine that should be ready to drink from 2024.
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Wine Spectator
Plush and warm in feel, with velvety plum sauce, raspberry reduction and cherry preserve flavors cruising along, lined with graphite and anise details. A racy edge is buried on the finish, showing a touch of floral lift. Very suave. Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Best from 2022 through 2037.
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Decanter
This has sweet brambly fruit, tight dark chocolate and liquorice through the body of the wine, giving way to uplift on the finish from a mouthwatering juicy slate texture that speaks of the limestone. The oak is evident but smoky and enjoyable, and this is a good quality wine, easily living up to its En Primeur promise and reflecting the work done at this property over the last few years. Drinking Window 2024 - 2040
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Jeb Dunnuck
Deeply colored, the 2017 Chateau Beau-Sejour Becot checks in as 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon that was 50% destemmed and aged in 65% French oak. This classic, elegant 2017 reveals a deep ruby/purple hue as well as plenty of black cherry and mulberry fruits, solid complexity in its salty minerality, dried flowers, iron, and spice aromatics, medium to full body, a bright spine of acidity, and outstanding length. It doesn't have the flesh or richness of the 2016 (or 2018) yet is classic, pure, incredibly precise, and long. This beautiful wine will benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and keep for 15-20 years. Rating: 93+
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James Suckling
Some handy depth to the nose here with quality fruit that’s evenly ripened. Rich aromas of mulberries lead to similar flavors on the very smooth, juicy and supple palate with plenty of fine tannins. Drink or hold.
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.