Château Beauséjour 2023

A stellar wine from this newly-named Château Beauséjour estate (removing Héritiers Duffau-Lagarrosse). Herbal and dark fruit on the nose, blackcurrant with cocoa powder, liquorice, some exotic spices as well as purple floral notes, peonies and roses. Juicy, supple and alive in the glass, this has lift and get-go from the start, super clean and precise with a lovely bite and grip to the tannins. Fine and chalky, mouthfilling, so you get the ample structure but it keeps its direction and flow. The power is definitely there, which some 2023s don’t have, yet it’s also elegant and so precise. The flavour really lingers. This has a vertical aspect, layered with muscle and fine sinew. Juicy and succulent, pure and moreish — it really makes you want another sip and somehow already feels approachable. Balanced and delicious. Consultants Julien Viaud and Axel Marchal. 46 hl/ha yield. 3.4 pH. Ageing 14–16 months, 60% new oak. 70% grand vin.

Your first introduction to the wine is its floral bouquet. From there, you discover layers of sweet cherries, smoke, spice, menthol, and a subtle background note of cocoa. The palate is even more impressive with its soft, silky, alluring display of salt-tinged red berries, spice, crushed rocks, stones, and mint, which adds freshness and vitality. The wine is hedonistic and contemplative, making it a pleasure to spend time with. It is effortless to drink, but don’t be fooled; this is also suited for decades of aging. The wine blends 70% Merlot with 30% Cabernet Franc. Drink from 2028- 2055.

Dark ruby, purple reflections, subtle brightening on the edge. Dark minerality, pleasant savouriness, blackberries, liquorice, orange zest, floral touch. Juicy, silky and complex, delicate fruit expression, full of finesse, ripe tannins, ripe cherries and currants in the aftertaste, a guarantee for great drinking pleasure, chalky and long on the palate.

Somehow manages to feel understated and yet hard to ignore, with its vivid aromatic spirals of peonies and crushed rose petals, set against raspberry and brambled autumnal fruits. The mid-palate is what really grips you here, with a flashy but extremely pure shot of liquorice root, liquorice bud, aniseed and fennel. It slows the pace across the palate with pumice-stone, grainy tannins, and contrasts this estate’s 2022 concentration with balance and finesse. Harvest from September 13 to October 3, Axel Marchal and Julien Viaud consultants. There will be a new wine cellar ready for the 2024 harvest, with more concrete vats (from 9 currently up to 15). Camille de Vigneau the technical director with Joséphine Duffau Lagarrosse. Brilliant winemaking, one of the wines of the vintage. 60% new oak.

Scores: 95–97. Hypnotic like an enchanting melody, the nose unveils successive waves of purple fruits, antique rose, violet and fresh grass. This freshness carries through into a caressing, velvety texture that lacks neither volume nor energy, underlined by an intensely mineral backbone. The finish is suave, with superb, mouthwatering salinity.