BEAUSEJOUR BECOT [ST EMILION] 2018 750ML

This estate makes an incredibly classic, elegant Saint-Emilion. The 2018 Château Beau-Séjour Bécot is based on 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon that was brought up in 65% new French oak. Coming from a beautiful terroir on the upper plateau, it reveals a deep purple/ruby color as well as perfumed cassis and mulberry fruits intermixed with ample spring flowers, chalky minerality, violets, and graphite. Medium to full-bodied and nicely concentrated on the palate, it has terrific mid-palate depth, flawless balance, background oak, and polished yet significant tannins. If you want to know what limestone soil gives to a wine, try this! It has the polish and balance to offer pleasure today, yet the cellar will be your friend. This warrants 5-7 years of bottle age and will have 30+ years of prime drinking.

Lots of leaf, mushroom, bark and plum aromas and flavors. It’s medium-to full-bodied with juicy fruit and firm, fine tannins. Tight at the finish. The quality and the polish of the tannins are exceptional. So integrated. Needs three or four years to open.

The 2018 Beau-Séjour Bécot has really closed down since I tasted it en primeur. Inky red/purplish fruit, lavender, rose petal, mint and blood orange gradually open in the glass, all framed by veins of chalky minerality. The 2018 is a fabulous wine in the making, but readers have to be patient. Time in a decanter or simply in the glass helps to bring out the wine's considerable depth.

Big, rich and packed with smoky black fruits, this is not a shy wine. Dark chocolate and black-plum flavors mingle with the solid structure and concentrated tannins. With its ripe, juicy fruitiness at the end, the wine has all the elements in place.

The bouquet is so pure and refined, with floral and dark fruit notes. This alone denotes the change in style. The palate is digestible and fresh with a lovely pitch of fruit and mouthwatering acidity. Minerally firmness of the chalky terroir, and the tannins give plenty of drive on the finish. It’s appealing already but will stay the pace. Harvest dates were 12-25 September for the Merlot and 4, 5, 10 October for the Cabernets.

The 2018 Beau-Sejour Becot is a blend of 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it slips slowly, sensuously from the glass with notes of boysenberries, black raspberries, baked plums and chocolate-covered cherries, plus hints of star anise, dried Provence herbs and lavender. The medium to full-bodied palate offers soft textured, perfumed black fruit layers with just enough freshness and a lifted finish. A little closed and shy at this youthful stage, give it a good 5-6 years in bottle and enjoy it over the next 25 years or more.

Juicy, with a mix of fig, blackberry and black currant fruit laced with light bramble, anise, bay and tobacco notes. Good energy through the finish, with a late minerally tug. Relies on purity and elegance overall. Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.