Château Beauséjour 2012

Quite ripe, with unctuous plum sauce and warmed fig fruit. A solid graphite spine gives this definition and drive, while smoldering tobacco and anise notes fill in the finish. The gorgeous echo of boysenberry at the very end bodes well for the cellar. Best from 2017 through 2030. 1,375 cases made.

This is really sexy and polished with ultra-fine tannins, dark fruit, dark mushrooms, berries and dried strawberries. Wonderful. Better in 2019.

Seemingly fully mature, the nose opens with salty chocolate, flowers, cherries, and black raspberries. Medium-bodied, elegant, soft and focused on more of those cherries, salty chocolate and plums. This charming, mineral-driven wine is clearly ready to go. Drink from 2025-3035.

One of the stars of the vintage is the 2012 from Beausejour Duffau, which checks in at 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc. It sports an inky purple color along with classic notes of blackberries, blueberries, crushed violets, and graphite. This big, rich, concentrated 2012 has shut down slightly since release, yet still offers plenty of density and texture. Hide bottles for another 3–4 years and enjoy over the following two decades or more. It’s still available on the market and is a no-brainer purchase.

87% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc. Deep purple-garnet, dense at the core, with lilac hues on the rim. Dreamy, perfumed bouquet: Damassine plums, pink pepper, wild raspberries, very complex. Sublime palate, concentrated yet remaining elegant, extremely long, almost an elixir, with a finely peppery and subtly firm finish (= one point deduction). Still, a remarkable, nearly top-level Duffau-Lagarosse. Can improve further.

The 2012 Beausejour Duffau-Lagarrosse is medium to deep garnet colored. It needs a fair bit of swirling to uncover notes of prunes, blackberry preserves, and fruitcake, plus suggestions of unsmoked cigars and sandalwood. The medium to full-bodied palate remains laden with youthful fruit and ripe, rounded tannins with seamless freshness and a long, savory finish. It should age well for a further 18 years+.

The 2012, in bottle, offers generous, refined texture with cool, rather austere tones.

The colour is deep and the nose shows great subtlety. The palate is dense, tight and fresh, with fine concentration, very subtle tannins and a restrained finish. A very elegant Beauséjour, less massive than usual, which should be ready to enjoy fairly soon.

A very aromatic wine, offering on the palate its characteristic gentle touch. The wine caresses and stretches out long and sappy with no tannic edges, finishing with ripe tannins. Good length.

This wine, produced from 80-year-old vines on the Dupuy family's property, is firm and dense. It has new wood aging that shows in the juicy eucalyptus flavors and touches of mint. The youthful blackberry fruits and the structure show the wine has considerable aging potential. Drink this concentrated wine from 2019.