Winemaker Notes
The 2019 wines have good, strong colors, well-defined, fresh fruit, and a more moderate alcohol content than the previous vintage; their tannic structures reveal impressive elegance and depth. The volumes harvested enabled a very rigorous selection - around 55% - to produce a grand vin in the tradition of its predecessors. Philippe Blanc, who celebrated his twenty-fifth vintage at Château Beychevelle this year, is very confident that 2019 will continue a high-quality series never previously encountered in Bordeaux and specifically at Château Beychevelle.
Blend: 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Lovely intensity on the nose, aromatic and expressive. Smooth and high-toned on the palate, bright with a classy shine to the black fruits. I really love the aromatics on the profile here, you get that perfume and gloss with depth and soft tannins. Easy-drinking second wine, easy to recommend.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The second wine of this terrific estate located on the southern edge of Saint-Julien, the 2019 Amiral De Beychevelle sports a dense purple hue to go with ripe black (and some blue) fruits, notes of tobacco leaf, cedar, and damp earth, medium-bodied richness, and a plush, round, sexy mouthfeel. It's beautifully balanced and well worth drinking.
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Vinous
The 2019 Amiral de Beychevelle has a well-defined bouquet with perfumed blackberry, bilberry and cedar scents, quite focused and demonstrating more precision than its peers. The palate is well balanced with firm tannins, dense black fruit, just a subtle herbal element towards the finish that imparts freshness. (I believe that will assimilate with bottle age). Cellar this for 4-5 years at least.
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Wine Spectator
Shows a flash of mesquite out front, followed quickly by blackberry and black currant preserve flavors. Features sanguine and iron notes that peek through on the grippy finish. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Drink now through 2032.
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.
One of the most—if not the most—famous red wine regions of the world, the Medoc reaches from the city of Bordeaux northwest along the left bank of the Gironde River almost all the way to the Atlantic. Its vineyards climb along a band of flatlands, sandwiched between the coastal river marshes and the pine forests in the west. The entire region can only claim to be three to eight miles wide (at its widest), but it is about 50 miles long.
While the Medoc encompasses the Haut Medoc, and thus most of the classed-growth villages (Margaux, Moulis, Listrac, St-Julien, Pauillac and St. Estephe) it is really only those wines produced in the Bas-Medoc that use the Medoc appellation name. The ones farther down the river, and on marginally higher ground, are eligible to claim the Haut Medoc appellation, or their village or cru status.
While the region can’t boast a particularly dramatic landscape, impressive chateaux disperse themselves among the magically well-drained gravel soils that define the area. This optimal soil draining capacity is completely necessary and ideal in the Medoc's damp, maritime climate. These gravels also serve well to store heat in cooler years.