Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Darker in colour than most in this vertical tasting, Château Beychevelle reached its best maturity levels for Cabernet Sauvignon in 2010. This is a really beautiful wine, very much reflective of St-Julien’s qualities with its balance and brushed tannins. It's not ready yet and is still pretty closed, the succulent tannins closing in for the final moments, but they have flexibility in their structure and this is going to run and run. Rich and concentrated, it's a gorgeous Beychevelle. 5% Cabernet Franc makes up the blend.
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James Suckling
Beautiful aromas of blackberries, currants and flowers. Very aromatic. Full body, with ultra-fine tannins and gorgeous fruit. It's polished and very refined. One of the best Beychevelles in years.
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Wine Enthusiast
Beychevelle's style privileges elegance over weight, and such is the case with the 2010. It's a pure-fruited, ripe and lightly tannic wine, emphasizing a blackberry note. This will evolve relatively quickly, reaching a peak in approximately eight years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep garnet colored, the 2010 Beychevelle comes roaring out of the glass with bombastic scents of baked blackcurrants, plum preserves and Black Forest cake plus touches of potpourri, cedar chest and iron ore. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has evolved black fruit flavors and a firm, chewy texture, finishing with nice freshness and a spicy kick.
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Wine Spectator
Features a gutsy feel, displaying dark, roasted cedar and tobacco notes framing a core of steeped fig, blackberry paste and plum skin that rumbles through the tarry finish. Shows strong grip on the back end, with the briary edge extending nicely. Best from 2016 through 2035.
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.
An icon of balance and tradition, St. Julien boasts the highest proportion of classed growths in the Médoc. What it lacks in any first growths, it makes up in the rest: five amazing second growth chateaux, two superb third growths and four well-reputed fourth growths. While the actual class rankings set in 1855 (first, second, and so on the fifth) today do not necessarily indicate a score of quality, the classification system is important to understand in the context of Bordeaux history. Today rivalry among the classed chateaux only serves to elevate the appellation overall.
One of its best historically, the estate of Leoville, was the largest in the Médoc in the 18th century, before it was divided into the three second growths known today as Chateau Léoville-Las-Cases, Léoville-Poyferré and Léoville-Barton. Located in the north section, these are stone’s throw from Chateau Latour in Pauillac and share much in common with that well-esteemed estate.
The relatively homogeneous gravelly and rocky top soil on top of clay-limestone subsoil is broken only by a narrow strip of bank on either side of the “jalle,” or stream, that bisects the zone and flows into the Gironde.
St. Julien wines are for those wanting subtlety, balance and consistency in their Bordeaux. Rewarding and persistent, the best among these Bordeaux Blends are full of blueberry, blackberry, cassis, plum, tobacco and licorice. They are intense and complex and finish with fine, velvety tannins.