Château Beau-Séjour Bécot 2020

Very expressive, with cassis, cherry purée and plum pâte de fruit notes leaping to the fore with good energy, while violet, red tea, savory and sanguine details add range and guile through the stylish finish. It's not easy to capture such freshness in this vintage like this version does. Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Best from 2026 through 2038.

Velvety, rich deep blue fruits; this is powerful and measured, fruit-forward yet subtle, with layered blueberry and raspberry, and smoked almonds and mocha on the finish. Sleek, finessed fruit flavours, a sense of forward motion from start to finish, and a burst of freshly grated minerality on the close. Extremely high quality. This is the second-to-last vintage in the new cellar, before building a new cellar for the 2023 vintage. They have done extensive work in the vineyards, studying the terroir to understand how smaller sectors and zones within each plot react, and this work will inform the design of the new cellar. Harvest from September 8 to September 29. pH 3.5. Yield of 42 hl/ha. Aged 16 months: 65% in new oak barrels, 35% in vats, amphoras, and 20 hl oak tanks. Thomas Duclos, consultant.

Beau-Sejour Becot is on a hot streak and 2020 shows why. It opens with a wealth of flowers before you get to all the red, black and blue fruits, thyme, spice-box, espresso beans, cocoa and licorice on the nose. The palate is even better, with multiple layers of crushed stones, sensuous fruit, velvety tannins, and a long, expansive, lifted finish, capped by a hint of salt on the endnote. As I wrote after tasting a barrel sample, this marks a new level of quality at Beau-Sejour Becot, embracing less volume but greater intensity and purity of fruit. With their new cellars about to come into use, you’re looking at a new level for Beau-Sejour Becot! Drink from 2025–2055.

Fine and complex fragrance; notes of black cherry and chalky limestone alongside coconut, thyme, sage, Darjeeling tea, redcurrant, wild cherry, black pepper. Smooth on the palate with very ripe fruit; the alcohol does not disturb the silky, juicy impression; well-integrated tannins, fine, nervy acidity; very graceful, ethereal.

A brilliant wine that’s up with the finest to date from this incredible terroir, the 2020 Château Beau-Séjour Bécot checks in as 85% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon. Revealing a vivid purple hue as well as a drop-dead gorgeous nose of black raspberries, cassis, violets, and a liquid rock-like sense of minerality, it’s medium to full-bodied and concentrated, with ultra-fine tannins and perfect balance. This beauty deserves 4–5 years of bottle age and will evolve gracefully over the following two decades or more. Don’t miss it.

Delicately articulated bouquet with red-berry contours, graphite and light noble wood. On the compact palate, soft texture and a gripping, tight-knit tannic corset, with subtle astringency. In the concentrated finish, little fruit, dark minerality and dusty extract; unfortunately, it cannot repeat the good en primeur result.

95-96

There was a time when BSB (it’s quicker to write) sounded the reveille from the very first seconds… well, that era is over. Now, it has a little bell to open the door! Note that you only need to open it a crack, as the wine makes its way through with a subtlety rarely seen. The 2020 stands out for its freshness, its slender, airy, precise, and energetic profile. What a sense of energy, quiet strength, and forward momentum, with a perfect view of the horizon. The wine knows exactly where it wants to go—down our throats—but first it will have to spend time in the cellar. This shouldn’t stop you from tasting it as soon as it’s delivered. A wine is to be tasted, observed, followed, and then savored. You just need to have enough of it. I’d like to conclude by highlighting a point that matters to me: styles evolve, and there have been notable changes at Beau-Séjour Bécot. Their goal is to be even closer to the terroir, to the limestone, and to follow the wine in the way it expresses itself. These changes are evolutionary and do not call into question what has been done before, because let’s not forget we can only be here if someone came before! So before is also tomorrow.

The nose is elegant and delicate, with restrained power, lovely finesse, freshness, depth, an airy feel, complexity and finely tuned intensity, as well as a very fine, refined grain. It reveals notes of vibrant wild blackcurrant, morello cherry and, more subtly, bright small black berries, combined with touches of violet, blueberry, crushed strawberry, fine hints of crushed redcurrant, cardamom, star anise, subtle sweet spice, a very discreet almost smoky note, and an imperceptible hint of pepper in the background. The palate is fruity, balanced and beautifully racy, offering juiciness, freshness, precise definition, gourmandise, a tangy backbone, rounded finesse, tension, fine depth, minerality, lovely fine-grained texture, an airy balance, a beautiful pulpy/tangy fruit character, suavity and refined richness. On the palate, the wine shows notes of pulpy/juicy blackcurrant, juicy/fresh morello cherry and, more slightly, bright redcurrant, with touches of camphor, small juicy/tangy black berries, black tea, cornflower, juicy blueberry, fine hints of dark chocolate, a discreet touch of caramelization and toasted hazelnut. The tannins are precise, elegant, fresh and finely creamy. A discreet hint of cocoa bitterness appears on the finish and persistence. Good length and very fine aromatic (and sapid) persistence. A precise wine, all finesse and delicacy within its power.

A wine with a finely textured mouthfeel, particularly flavorful, that develops body, depth and richness, leading to a long, subtle, fragrant finish. Superb! The distinction awarded en Primeurs is confirmed.

Over the past few vintages, the Beau-Séjour Bécot team has openly reexamined its approach to draw the very essence from its fine terroir, whose heart lies on the Saint-Émilion plateau. After the clear ramp-up of the last two years, the shift is convincing. We find the brilliance of the fruit and the fresh, vibrant aromatics that have become the estate’s hallmark, but now with added density, depth and substance, all carried by a limestone-driven energy that defines the place’s identity. The crunch gives way to juiciness, with outstanding work on the finesse of the tannins. Remarkable!

94–96. Barrel Sample. The wine's structure shows right through the vibrant fruit to give both great freshness and powerful tannins at the back. Black currant fruits shine with impressive acidity that gives a floral character to the aftertaste.