Vinous | Explore All Things Wine

Browse using the new Vinous website now. Launch →

Producer name: Beychevelle

Wines:

2006 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2006 Beychevelle has a vibrant bouquet of black plum, pencil box and a noticeable marine, almost chlorophyll-like aroma. Fine definition. The palate is medium-bodied with a ferrous entry and powdery tannins, a little rustic in style but cohesive on the finish.

Producer Commentary:
1976 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 86.0

Drinking window: 2026 - 2030

Tasting notes: The 1976 Beychevelle came from magnum. It has a faded brick core with tuile on the rim. The nose is fully matured with vestiges of red fruit, cooked meats and brick, just a little stewed and Bretty as you might expect. The palate is medium-bodied with light tannins and low acidity, ferrous towards the finish which is clinging on by its fingertips. Not undrinkable by any means, but bottles should be drunk soon. Tasted at the Académie du Vin dinner in Bordeaux.

Producer Commentary:
2025 Brulieres De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 2030 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 2025 Brulieres de Beychevelle has an attractive nose with raspberry, wild strawberry, pressed roses and just a hint of powdered dark chocolate. The palate is medium-bodied with edgy tannins, fresh and sapid in the mouth, with a grippy, graphite-tinged finish. 12.9% alcohol

Producer Commentary:
2025 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 2031 - 2045

Tasting notes: The 2025 Amiral de Beychevelle has slightly less Cabernet than usual. It has a more floral bouquet than the Brulières, mainly red berry fruit, rose petals and light bergamot scents that blossom in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins, smooth and harmonious, good depth, with a sense of linearity on the sapid finish. This is a seriously fine Amiral that, if keenly priced on release, should warrant attention. 13.2% alcohol.

Producer Commentary:
2025 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 96.0

Drinking window: 2032 - 2060

Tasting notes: The 2025 Beychevelle was picked from September 5 to 21 at 31 hl/ha, fairly reasonable for Saint-Julien this year, albeit the second lowest after 2013. Matured in 70% new oak, this has a concentrated nose with blackcurrants, blueberry, inkwell and light violet scents. Very fine definition, a Beychevelle that leans on the more opulent side aromatically, though always controlled. The palate is medium-bodied with a velvety smooth entry that lends it sensuality. Extremely precise, exquisite pure fruit, quite mineral-driven with a very long, quite sensual finish. I don't think Philippe Blanc has overseen a Beychevelle as good as this. 13.4% alcohol.

Producer Commentary:
2017 Les Brulières De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 85.0

Drinking window: 2019 - 2023

Tasting notes: The 2017 Les Brulières de Beychevelle is the Haut-Médoc wine from Beychevelle. It has a very high-toned bouquet that seems a little over-extracted to me. The palate is medium-bodied with sweet tannin, dark cherry and blueberry notes, here with a slightly forced finish that needs to find more refinement. 

Producer Commentary:
2020 Les Brulières De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 86.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2030

Tasting notes: The 2020 Les Brulières de Beychevelle, the Haut-Médoc cuvée from the Saint-Julien estate, offers light tobacco and gravel scents on the nose, which perhaps needs a little more fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy blackberry and raspberry, and a little coarse on the midpalate, leading to a saline finish. Drink over 6–8 years. 

Producer Commentary:
Philippe Blanc, head winemaker for some 29 vintages at the estate, explained: “We had a decent crop thanks to us escaping the frost and good vineyard management during the huge mildew pressure from May to July. Summer temperatures were lower than in recent years with few days over 30°C and around 30-40mm of rain, so it was not particularly wet. We came in over weekends to protect the crop. We stopped spraying quite early, 11 times compared to 19 times elsewhere, which is not to say we are number one. But the vineyard management was successful. The harvest was from 25 September and then stopped twice when it rained, 14 or 15 days of picking with our 100 pickers, 50 from Romania as we cannot find them locally. Sugar levels were lower, but the fruit was ripe, so Merlots came in at around 12%. We ended up with over 50hL/ha, and that meant that during blending, we had more scope to make choices. The more we produce more volume, the more we deselect, so that 54% of production went into the Grand Vin in 2021. Our terroir tends to ripen later which gave us an advantage in 2021.
2021 Les Brulières De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 86.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2031

Tasting notes: The 2021 Les Brulières de Beychevelle has a light nose of dusky black fruit and a touch of pressed flowers, though it needs a little more intensity. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, fine acidity, gentle grip and just a touch of bitterness toward the end that lends it edge. Fine. 

Producer Commentary:
Philippe Blanc, head winemaker for some 29 vintages at the estate, explained: “We had a decent crop thanks to us escaping the frost and good vineyard management during the huge mildew pressure from May to July. Summer temperatures were lower than in recent years with few days over 30°C and around 30-40mm of rain, so it was not particularly wet. We came in over weekends to protect the crop. We stopped spraying quite early, 11 times compared to 19 times elsewhere, which is not to say we are number one. But the vineyard management was successful. The harvest was from 25 September and then stopped twice when it rained, 14 or 15 days of picking with our 100 pickers, 50 from Romania as we cannot find them locally. Sugar levels were lower, but the fruit was ripe, so Merlots came in at around 12%. We ended up with over 50hL/ha, and that meant that during blending, we had more scope to make choices. The more we produce more volume, the more we deselect, so that 54% of production went into the Grand Vin in 2021. Our terroir tends to ripen later which gave us an advantage in 2021.
2022 Les Brulieres De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2034

Tasting notes: The 2022 Les Brulieres de Beychevelle is plush, silky and super-expressive. Bright acids drive through a core of red/purplish fruit, spice, leather, tobacco, incense and violet. This racy, pliant Haut-Médoc has a ton to offer. Pretty savory notes lend complexity on the finish. It is especially charming today.

Producer Commentary:
2021 Les Brulières De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 86.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2030

Tasting notes: The 2021 Les Brulières de Beychevelle, which lies adjacent to Beaumont, has an attractive nose with red and black fruit, black olive and a subtle tobacco note. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins. It is slightly less bitter than it showed out of barrel, though you might quibble that it feels a bit muscular. This is a hearty wine that I can imagine matching well with a hearty steak. 

Producer Commentary:
2019 Brulière De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 86.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2026

Tasting notes: The 2019 Brulière de Beychevelle has a lifted, quite Margaux-like bouquet of punchy black and red fruit, hints of licorice coming through with time. The medium-bodied palate shows a little greenness on the entry that becomes more marine-like with aeration. Quite simple in style, with a nice touch of bitterness on the finish. 

Producer Commentary:
2023 Brulières De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2035

Tasting notes: The 2023 Brulières de Beychevelle is a racy, deep Haut-Médoc. Supple dark red cherry, plum, cinnamon, spice, leather and cedar are all nicely amplified. The purity of the fruit here is so attractive. Best of all, the 2023 will drink well on release. I especially admire its energy.

Producer Commentary:
2023 Brulières De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 86.0

Drinking window: 2026 - 2034

Tasting notes: The 2023 Brulières de Beychevelle, matured in one-third new oak, offers blackberry, wild strawberry and a touch of violet. The palate is balanced with crunchy red fruit, modest depth and just a touch of greenness on the finish. Enjoy it over four to five years. 

Producer Commentary:
2022 Brulières De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2035

Tasting notes: The 2022 Brulières de Beychevelle, aged in 30% new oak, has a perfumed and floral bouquet with black cherries and blueberry fruit. Simple but effective. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly rustic tannins, tar and smoke, balanced with a saline finish. Fine. 

Producer Commentary:
2020 Brulières De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 86.0

Drinking window: 2023 - 2029

Tasting notes: The 2020 Brulières de Beychevelle is the Haut-Médoc from Beychevelle whose vines more or less conjoin. This has a pleasing blackberry, cedar and light tobacco-tinged bouquet, the one-third new oak neatly integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with fine boned tannins, straightforward with a touch of white pepper on the finish that has a very very slight greenish edge. Fine. 

Producer Commentary:
2020 Brulières De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2033

Tasting notes: The 2020 Brulières de Beychevelle comes from 14-hectares in the Haut-Médoc appellation. Pencil lead and blackberry aromas on the nose, nicely defined, whilst the palate has a strong dose of liquorice on the entry, moderate depth with some creamy oak (33%) on the finish. It will require 3-4 years in bottle but it should drink well for a decade. 

Producer Commentary:
2025 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 96.0

Drinking window: 2035 - 2075

Tasting notes: The 2025 Beychevelle is a very sexy wine. Plush and exuberant, the 2025 is seriously impressive right out of the gate. Blackberry, lavender, mocha, crème de cassis and a kick of French oak are all beautifully amplified in the glass. The blend is 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, with the plush richness of the Merlot very much in evidence. There's a lot of wine here. The 2025 spent three weeks on the skins, more or less the norm here, but it also includes 13% press wine, a bit higher than most years. More than anything else, the 2025 is a wine of extreme pleasure. It is an exceptional Beychevelle, one of the finest in recent memory.

Producer Commentary:
2025 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 2030 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 2025 Amiral de Beychevelle is terrific. Bold, juicy and exuberant in the glass, the 2025 hits the palate with copious dark red/purplish fruit. Hints of lavender, pomegranate, rose petal and cinnamon appear later. Plush contours support the effortless mid-palate and finish. Floral top notes pull it all together on the close. What an absolute delight.

Producer Commentary:
2025 Brulieres De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 2028 - 2037

Tasting notes: The 2025 Brulières de Beychevelle is a very classy, polished Haut-Médoc Cru Bourgeois. Bright floral notes lead into a core of red/purplish fruit in a mid-weight, super-expressive wine that has a lot to offer. Hints of blood orange and pomegranate perk up the long, sustained finish. This is very nicely rendered.

Producer Commentary:
2016 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 0.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2016 Beychevelle has a broader and more complex bouquet than the '16 Branaire Ducru, well defined with red fruit, sous-bois and pencil-box aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with a bitter entry, quite compact, moderate depth, but it feels a little austere and again, bitter towards the finish. I found this element in the bottle at Bordeaux Index's Ten-Year-On and then blind at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting.

Producer Commentary:
2022 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 0.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2022 Beychevelle tasted superb just after bottling but I am not convinced by this example, which felt a little over-ripe and bitter compared to its peers. I shall not mark based on this. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting in London.

Producer Commentary:
2022 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 2028 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 2022 Amiral de Beychevelle has quite a glossy, floral bouquet with blueberry and blackberry fruit, just missing some Bordeaux typicité. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe blackberry and boysenberry notes, white pepper and a touch of graphite on the finish. Primal compared to others, give this a couple of years in bottle. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting in London.

Producer Commentary:
2023 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2028 - 2038

Tasting notes: The 2023 Amiral de Beychevelle is a rare Amiral that is Merlot-driven. Crushed flowers, bright red-toned fruit, cedar and sweet pipe tobacco lift from the glass. Fine, silky tannins wrap it all together in style. This is such a classy, polished Saint-Julien. Best of all, the 2023 will drink well right out of the gate.

Producer Commentary:
2023 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 96.5

Drinking window: 2033 - 2063

Tasting notes: The 2023 Beychevelle is a dark, brooding wine. Blackberry, gravel, dried herbs, chocolate, menthol and incense stain the palate. Time in the glass brings out the wine's freshness and energy, along with a surprising amount of tension. In many recent vintages, Beychevelle has been quite racy and opulent. The 2023, on the other hand, displays elements of youthful classicism that will require a few years to mellow. I expect it will age gracefully for decades.

Producer Commentary:
2023 Brulières De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2035

Tasting notes: The 2023 Brulières de Beychevelle is superb. A rush of dark plum fruit, menthol, plum, chocolate, dried herbs, licorice and incense hits the palate. This succulent, explosive Haut-Médoc is perhaps a bit brash, but it's super attractive just the same. Plush contours wrap it all up in style. Brulières has the plushness and richness to stand up to just about anything.

Producer Commentary:
2023 Brulières De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 86.0

Drinking window: 2026 - 2032

Tasting notes: The 2023 Brulières de Beychevelle has a pleasant, if slightly rustic, nose, nothing wrong with that, touches of mulch infusing the mainly black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied, with a slightly herbaceous entry. A "cool" Haut-Médoc, a bit raw around the edges, but it should drink nicely for four to five years.

Producer Commentary:
2023 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 2027 - 2038

Tasting notes: The 2023 Amiral de Beychevelle has a fragrant nose, well-defined with blackberry, cedar and light forest floor scents, nicely focused with well-integrated new oak (35%). The palate is medium-bodied with fine-boned tannins, fresh and vibrant, quite sapid in the mouth, with a precise finish that causes me to up my score. This is a sterling Deuxième Vin. Bravo.

Producer Commentary:
2023 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2029 - 2055

Tasting notes: The 2023 Beychevelle was bottled in June 2025. "It underwent a strict selection, so this Grand Vin represents 53% of the total crop," winemaker Philippe Blanc told me. Allowing this five minutes to open in the glass, it has a refined bouquet, a mixture of red and black fruit, cedar and a sprig of wild mint. Clean and precise, it gains intensity yet always conveys a sense of control. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins. Again, much like the Amiral de Beychevelle, it has a precise and refreshing mineralité-driven finish that lingers in the mouth. This is a delicious Beychevelle that will just need three to four years in bottle.

Producer Commentary:
1982 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2042

Tasting notes: The 1982 Beychevelle is a vintage that I have not encountered for a number of years. This feels quite restrained on the nose; dark berry fruit commingles with black tea, autumn leaves and a background scent of kelp. The palate is medium-bodied with a soft, pillowy entry, slightly lower in acidity than its peers, with bay leaf and brown spices towards the gentle finish. Linear, but there is undoubtedly plenty of concentration here, perhaps a Beychevelle that is approaching the end of its drinking plateau? Very fine, very winsome. Tasted single blind at the 1982 dinner at Cornus in London.

Producer Commentary:
2015 Beychevelle
Color:

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2027 - 2049

Tasting notes: The 2015 Beychevelle was matured in 50% new oak. This showing is consistent with previous tastings: fine tannins, quite sapid on the mid-palate with a grainy texture. The finish is tinged with black olive.

Producer Commentary:
1945 Beychevelle
Color:

Score: 95.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2040

Tasting notes: This bottle of 1945 Beychevelle was not dissimilar to the slightly underwhelming one at the château the previous September. I admire the nose: stately and a little more complex with understated red and black fruit, loam and cedar. The palate is medium-bodied with truffle-tinged red fruit. Like the previous bottle, it feels quite linear towards the finish insofar as it lacks the peacock's tail that you often find in '45s. Overall this is probably a little fresher in style, hence the extra point. Tasted blind at the "five" dinner at Domaine de Chevalier. 

Producer Commentary:
2015 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 2028 - 2055

Tasting notes: The 2015 Beychevelle is more backward on the nose with a greater proportion of black fruit compared to its peers. Well-defined if tightly coiled at present. The palate is medium-bodied with a sapid entry and licorice-tinged black fruit. It's a little Saint-Estèphe like in style, drier on the finish, but it lingers nicely in the mouth. Tasted blind at the 2015 Bordeaux Ten-Year-On tasting at Farr Vintners. 

Producer Commentary:
2015 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 2026 - 2050

Tasting notes: The 2015 Beychevelle replicates the impressive performance from just a few months earlier at the château. This has vivacious black fruit laced with sous-bois and mint on the nose. This is harmonious and still with a zest for life and very fine tannins on the vibrant finish. There is nothing not to love here. Tasted at the 2015 Ten-Year-On tasting at Bordeaux Index.

Producer Commentary:
2024 Brulières De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 2027 - 2035

Tasting notes: The 2024 Brulières de Beychevelle matured in 30% new oak (although the sample blend was from a new barrel). It has a well-defined nose with pure blackberry and bilberry fruit aromas, fine vigor and harmony. The palate is medium-bodied with supple, fluid tannins and a balanced finish. The 2024 is worth seeking out.

Producer Commentary:
“It was an incredibly tough year,” winemaker Philippe Blanc admits in the tasting room overlooking the manicured gardens at Beychevelle. “I had hail on September 21 when the harvest had already started on the Beaumont and Brulières, which meant I had to pick earlier. In the end, I am reasonably happy with the result. The alcohol levels are lower, with reasonably high IPT levels. We cropped at 43 hl/ha, which is not a bad performance compared to others.”
2024 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 2027 - 2038

Tasting notes: The 2024 Amiral de Beychevelle has a touch more density on the nose than the Brulières de Beychevelle. The palate is very polished and fleshy in style, with a fine bead of acidity and a mixture of red and blue fruit furnishing the sensual finish. It is a surprisingly lavish Amiral in the context of the growing season. This will be tempting in its youth. 

Producer Commentary:
“It was an incredibly tough year,” winemaker Philippe Blanc admits in the tasting room overlooking the manicured gardens at Beychevelle. “I had hail on September 21 when the harvest had already started on the Beaumont and Brulières, which meant I had to pick earlier. In the end, I am reasonably happy with the result. The alcohol levels are lower, with reasonably high IPT levels. We cropped at 43 hl/ha, which is not a bad performance compared to others.”
2024 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2029 - 2050

Tasting notes: The 2024 Beychevelle was picked from September 24 until October 9 and will mature in 70% new oak. This has a nicely composed, warm and sensual bouquet with plush blackberry, cassis and touches of violet. The 42% Merlot is very expressive. The palate is medium-bodied with, again, quite luxuriant tannins that lend this Beychevelle more comeliness than you would anticipate given the growing season. Perhaps it just misses a little sustain on the finish, but otherwise, this is a fine Saint-Julien. 13.3% alcohol.

Producer Commentary:
“It was an incredibly tough year,” winemaker Philippe Blanc admits in the tasting room overlooking the manicured gardens at Beychevelle. “I had hail on September 21 when the harvest had already started on the Beaumont and Brulières, which meant I had to pick earlier. In the end, I am reasonably happy with the result. The alcohol levels are lower, with reasonably high IPT levels. We cropped at 43 hl/ha, which is not a bad performance compared to others.”
2024 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 2026 - 2034

Tasting notes: The 2024 Amiral de Beychevelle is a terrific second wine. In fact, it is everything a second wine should be. Bright and floral, with excellent fruit purity, the 2024 is such a delight. Blue/purplish fruit, lavender, spice and new leather are nicely amplified. Brisk acids pull it all together. This is a rare Amiral that is Merlot-driven. More than anything, though, I admire the wine's freshness. 

Producer Commentary:
2024 Brulières De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 2026 - 2034

Tasting notes: The 2024 Brulières de Beychevelle is plump, juicy and super-attractive right out of the gate. Succulent dark cherry, plum, new leather, rose petal, spice and lavender are front and center. Soft, supple contours wrap it all together in style. This racy Haut-Médoc is seriously delicious. 

Producer Commentary:
2024 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 96.0

Drinking window: 2032 - 2054

Tasting notes: The 2024 Beychevelle might very well be the wine of the vintage in Saint-Julien. It is certainly among the very best I tasted on the Left Bank. Plush, inky and beautifully layered in the glass, the 2024 is so silky and inviting. Blue/purplish fruit, lavender, mocha and spice are some of the many notes that stain the palate. The sustained, resonant finish is a thing of beauty. Tasted two times. 

Producer Commentary:
2022 Brulières De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 87.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2035

Tasting notes: The 2022 Brulières de Beychevelle has a fresh nose with blackberry and bilberry fruit aromas along with just a light black olive scent. The palate is medium-bodied, very saline and briny in style, with crisp acidity. This is a wine that gets the saliva flowing at the end.

Producer Commentary:
2022 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 96.0

Drinking window: 2030 - 2065

Tasting notes: The 2022 Beychevelle has a succinct bouquet that has tightened up since I tasted it in barrel. It retains wonderful precision and focus, pure black fruit, black olive compote and subtle tobacco scents. It unfurls with aeration yet doesn't want to give too much away. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannins. Like Gruaud Larose this year, there is a newfound sense of clarity that lifts this 2022 above recent vintages. This is unequivocally one of the most elegant Beychevelles on the finish and it lingers temptingly in the mouth. It’s a benchmark wine for this Saint-Julien—bravo to head winemaker Philippe Blanc and his team.

Producer Commentary:
2022 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 2026 - 2036

Tasting notes: The 2022 Amiral de Beychevelle has cohered nicely on the nose since I tasted it from bottle. It’s well-defined and nicely focused with a touch of black olive and sea spray. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit and a dab of white pepper. It has light grip and a little more persistence on the finish. This is worth seeking out.

Producer Commentary:
2022 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 96.0

Drinking window: 2030 - 2062

Tasting notes: The 2022 Beychevelle is so impressive. A wine of precision and stature, the 2022 has so much to offer. Inky dark fruit, licorice, mocha and lavender build in a sumptuous, creamy Saint-Julien. All of that intensity mounts through the mid-palate, reaching a stunning crescendo on the explosive, resonant finish. Even with all of its obvious intensity, the 2022 retains a gorgeous sense of freshness and vibrancy.

Producer Commentary:
1905 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2025

Tasting notes: The 1905 Beychevelle is only the second wine that I have drunk from this long-forgotten vintage, the other being Lafite Rothschild. This bottle trumps the First Growth. Initially a little rustic, it magically coheres in the glass with extant red fruit laced with hickory, leather, and a touch of sandalwood with time. The palate is medium-bodied and moderately complex, yet there is balance and class. Showing no greenness or VA, and boasting hints of candied orange peel, it miraculously appears to gain clarity in the glass. Awe-inspiring. 

Producer Commentary:
1915 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 85.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2025

Tasting notes: The 1915 Beychevelle is the first wine that I have ever tasted from this war-torn vintage. They are extremely rare. It has a simple nose with vestiges of red fruit and a little whiff or red cherry that is perhaps Pinot-like. The palate is very one-dimensional, what you might call a wine that has "survived." That alone deserves a medal after over a century. It is a curio rather than a delicious wine (like the 1905 served at the same dinner), but what a privilege to drink this. 

Producer Commentary:
1921 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 95.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2025

Tasting notes: The 1921 Beychevelle… what a wine! So refined on the nose, this completely ignores its venerable age and offers a mélange of red and black fruit, iodine and sous-bois. It is surprisingly youthful. The palate is ripe on the entry with admirable fruit purity, rounded in texture and almost Burgundy-like. It shows remarkable weight and presence - this must have been extremely concentrated in its youth. Now at 103 years old, the 1921 unstintingly still gives sensory pleasure and does not fade one iota in the glass. 

Producer Commentary:
1934 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2025

Tasting notes: The 1934 Beychevelle, from one of the best vintages of the decade, has a wonderful bouquet that exudes Saint-Julien typicité. Sous-bois-tinged red fruit, leather, antique bureau and hints of wilted flowers open. This gives you everything for 10-15 minutes and then fades. The palate is well balanced with fine tannins, leathery and gentle in terms of grip. But it can't keep its head above water, unlike the 1921 or even the 1905, and it frays at the seams with time. As someone who advocates decanting older wines, this is one where I think I would pop 'n pour. 

Producer Commentary:
1945 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2025

Tasting notes: The 1945 Beychevelle is a vintage that I last drank almost 20 years ago! It has an intriguing bouquet, not as complex as the top-tier Médoc wines of this legendary vintage, but is more "solid," a touch of chlorine infusing the black fruit. The palate follows in a similar vein, quite structured and grippy, with a light sapidity that is linear and rather conservative. It lacks the brightness and complexity of the best 1945s and doesn't quite flow like the best, yet it does offer pleasure and I suspect that on its own, it might show better. Bottles will still keep if well-stored. 

Producer Commentary:
1955 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 0.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 1955 Beychevelle was so frustrating. This is clearly a very fine Left Bank Saint-Julien, not least on what is clearly a very elegant and refined palate. But there is definitely some TCA on this bottle that snuffs out the aromatics. I would love to taste an untainted bottle. 

Producer Commentary:
1964 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 83.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2026

Tasting notes: The 1964 Beychevelle is indicative of a mediocre vintage in the Médoc. Quite lean on the nose, it evidences some under-ripe fruit. The palate is slightly coarse with light tannins, austere and slightly hollow. The finish suggests that it was heavily chaptalized to compensate, ending up a bit... ersatz. Not the best, but then again, few Left Bank château made a great wine this year. 

Producer Commentary:
1975 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 86.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2030

Tasting notes: The 1975 Beychevelle is not a bad wine by any means, but it typifies the rather austere wines the Left Bank begat in this vintage. It has a not displeasurable algae-like tincture on the nose, along with black fruit and simple peaty/undergrowth scents over time. The palate is marked by dry tannins, a leitmotif of this vintage, gritty and quite firm in the mouth. This wine lacks a bit of length but it is not a write-off. 

Producer Commentary:
1985 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 85.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2028

Tasting notes: This was my first encounter with the 1985 Beychevelle. To be honest, it's not a golden period for this Saint-Julien. It has a strange nose, some Brettanomyces plus the wood component which seems disjointed to what little fruit there is. The palate is quite candied on the entry, a feral Beychevelle with a Rhône-like, slightly caramelly finish. Disappointing in the context of the vintage. 

Producer Commentary:
1995 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2032

Tasting notes: The 1995 Beychevelle has never been one of my favorite vintages, inferior to the 2005 or 2015 that I juxtaposed at the table. Dark berry fruit, quite ferrous, is evidence of a little Brettanomyces. The palate is powerful and muscular, which is not really the Beychevelle style, and quite spicy towards the finish. Will it improve with time? I doubt it. 

Producer Commentary:
2005 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2045

Tasting notes: The 2005 Beychevelle is improving in bottle. Quite intense on the nose, it offers slightly darker fruit than previous bottles, with cedar and a touch of espresso, though there is still a little rusticity. The palate is medium-bodied with quite a rich, slightly muscular entry, a smear of dark chocolate and a structured, grippy finish. It needs time, but this is beginning to coalesce nicely and should drink well for longer than I previously envisaged. 

Producer Commentary:
2013 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2034

Tasting notes: The 2013 Beychevelle has a light, leafy nose, a little tertiary in style, certainly with less fruit than other vintages, as you might expect from this challenging one. The palate is medium-bodied with light blackberry, bilberry and white pepper scents, attenuating a little sharply towards the finish. But it's not bad by any means - I would still drink this off-vintage Beychevelle and perhaps it has improved in the last couple of years? 

Producer Commentary:
2015 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 2026 - 2050

Tasting notes: The 2015 Beychevelle is a vintage where I feel Philippe Blanc really excelled. It has an extremely attractive bouquet with vibrant black fruit, more cedar than previous bottles and much less of the medicinal element that I have observed before. Finely delineated, the palate is very well balanced, harmonious and youthful, fresh with a slightly glossiness on the finish. Great potential and just a top-notch Saint-Julien. 

Producer Commentary:
2005 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2037

Tasting notes: The 2005 Amiral de Beychevelle certainly gives evidence that this Deuxième Vin can age. Quite elegant on the nose, more so than the 2010, this has more red fruit intertwined with iris flower scents. The palate is crisp and fresh, light on its feet, with a pretty, quite linear finish. Bon vin. 

Producer Commentary:
2010 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 2026 - 2036

Tasting notes: The 2010 Amiral de Beychevelle is a very pleasant surprise. Superior delineation and freshness compared to the 2015, this has a vivacious bouquet with black cherries, struck flint and a subtle, interwoven marine influence. The palate is medium-bodied with edgy tannins and a graphite seam lending it a Pauillac-like personality. With quite a powerful finish, strangely, this Amiral would benefit from more time in bottle. 

Producer Commentary:
2015 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 87.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2029

Tasting notes: The 2015 Amiral de Beychevelle has quite a ripe and opulent bouquet, with hints of cassis and iodine and fine purity. The palate is medium-bodied and plush in style, displaying black fruit laced with pencil shavings. In this bottle, I detected a little alcoholic warmth on the finish, hence my prudent score. Tasted at the Beychevelle old vintage dinner at the estate. 

Producer Commentary:
2020 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 2030 - 2060

Tasting notes: The 2020 Beychevelle has an open-knit, very well-defined bouquet with pure black cherries, bilberry, veins of blueberry and crushed violet. There's just a touch of new oak still waiting to be assimilated. The palate is lavish and very ripe, displaying black fruit tinged with notes of fig and date, turning almost exotic toward the lascivious finish. Perhaps, for Beychevelle, this is modern in style. It's a world away from the slightly herbal showing in barrel, but bottle age ought to temper its hedonistic urges. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. 

Producer Commentary:
2020 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 88.5

Drinking window: 2028 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 2020 Amiral de Beychevelle has a crisp, delineated bouquet with blackberry and wild strawberry. Touches of graphite and pencil shavings render it very Pauillac in style. The palate is medium-bodied with a feisty entry, but there is just a vein of greenness underlying the finish that just nags away. Otherwise, this is a commendable wine. As such, I'd allow it two or three years in bottle to see if that element meliorates. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

Producer Commentary:
2004 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 87.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2032

Tasting notes: The 2004 Beychevelle seems a little more evolved than its peers, with loose-knit brambly red fruit, sous-bois and light estuarine aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with a savory, meaty entry, perhaps a bit of Brettanomyces here, so that the finish is quite animally and has a touch of dryness. 

Producer Commentary:
1954 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2034

Tasting notes: The 1954 Beychevelle punches above my expectations and, indeed, those of Philippe Blanc. The nose offers meaty red fruit, a touch of wild mint, singed leather and mahogany bureau. The palate is medium-bodied with impressive balance, carrying more weight than the 1954 Pichon Comtesse tasted the previous evening. Gentle and somehow "soothing" with a dash of white pepper on the finish, this delightful Beychevelle is one of the vintage's surprises. Tasted at the château. 

Producer Commentary:
1994 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2034

Tasting notes: The 1994 Beychevelle is one of the surprise packages of this almost forgotten vintage. It has a light bouquet with blackberry, iodine and cedar scents—simple but effective. The palate is medium-bodied with a fleshy texture and fine acidity. There is an almost pastille-like purity to this Saint-Julien, pretty and winsome, plus it gains depth with aeration. Who knew? It's worth seeking out. Tasted at the château. 

Producer Commentary:
1984 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 87.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2030

Tasting notes: The 1984 Beychevelle offers a dusty nose with light tobacco and morel aromas. The palate is medium-bodied and very simple with sharp acidity. It does feel a bit hollow, though it's certainly not undrinkable or green. But there is severe attenuation on the finish. 

Producer Commentary:
1974 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 0.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Philippe Blanc, the most sanguine winemaker in the Médoc, forewarned that the 1974 Beychevelle was not very good. In fact, when the bottle was found to be corked, his relief was palpable. 

Producer Commentary:
2023 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2028 - 2038

Tasting notes: The 2023 Amiral de Beychevelle is a very serious second wine. A blast of blue/purplish fruit, lavender, crème de cassis, spice and mocha infuse the 2023 with gorgeous textural depth. Plush, silky tannins wrap it all together. This is a charmer, that much is obvious.

Producer Commentary:
2023 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 95.0

Drinking window: 2033 - 2063

Tasting notes: The 2023 Beychevelle is fabulous. As always, Beychevelle includes quite a bit more Merlot than most wines in the appellation, but the Cabernet is especially high here. Inky dark fruit, crème de cassis, mocha, licorice and lavender build in the glass. This juicy, extroverted Saint-Julien has a ton to offer. The combination of fruit intensity, acid and supporting structure is superb. The 2023 is showy, but not at all overdone. Beychevelle remains one of the most distinctive wines in all of Bordeaux. It is especially classy in this edition. Tasted two times.

Producer Commentary:
2023 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 2027 - 2038

Tasting notes: The 2023 Amiral de Beychevelle contains more Merlot this year, as Philippe Blanc opined that it is not really a Merlot vintage. Matured in 35% new oak (though my sample comes from a blend of mainly new barrels), it has an iodine-tinged bouquet, with black cherries and just a touch of pressed violet. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, slightly chalky tannins, commendable sapidity and a slightly short finish. Fine. 

Producer Commentary:
2023 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2029 - 2055

Tasting notes: The 2023 Beychevelle was picked from September 13 through October 6 over 17 days of harvest, partly because of the size of the crop and not having to rush. It has the highest proportion of Merlot under winemaker Philippe Blanc (35%), and it matured in 70% new oak. This has a notably floral and tightly-knit bouquet, leaning a little more toward blue fruit than other Saint-Julien wines tasted from barrel. The oak is nicely integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with strict tannins that impart a sense of linearity. Very saline, this is a saliva-inducing Beychevelle, lightly spiced with a structured, almost Pauillac-like finish. Excellent. 

Producer Commentary:
2014 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2045

Tasting notes: The 2014 Beychevelle has a more high-toned nose, more primal, though there is some pure black fruit laced with crushed stone and graphite that will eventually be more expressive. The palate is medium-bodied with a succulent entry, very smooth and plusher than its peers. Blood orange-infused black fruit towards the finish delivers just a touch of spice that keeps the senses on their toes. This is a "solid" showing. Tasted blind at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting and Bordeaux Index's 10-Year-On tasting.

Producer Commentary:
2021 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 2031 - 2046

Tasting notes: The 2021 Beychevelle is elegant, understated and classy. Medium in body and less overt than most recent years, the 2021 is impeccably balanced from start to finish. Dark-toned fruit, gravel, menthol, licorice, spice and new oak build nicely with a bit of time in the glass. This is incredibly harmonious. 

Producer Commentary:
2021 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2038

Tasting notes: The 2021 Amiral de Beychevelle has a lovely bouquet for a Deuxième Vin. Quite plush considering the vintage, it oozes with blueberry and blackberry fruit, quite fresh and floral—you might think it was a Margaux! The palate is medium-bodied with a vibrant entry and a slightly granular texture, while a keen thread of acidity leads to a bright and lively finish. Lovely. Drink this over the next decade.

Producer Commentary:
2021 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2026 - 2050

Tasting notes: The 2021 Beychevelle, incidentally the final vintage to contain Cabernet Franc according to Philippe Blanc, is still a little tight on the nose after bottling in June, but, it has a wonderful sense of purity and delineation. The Cabernet Sauvignon is very expressive here, so much so that you might think there was around 75% in the blend, rather than 57%. There's a hint of crushed violet in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, and harmonious with fine sapidity. This is more austere than recent vintages, as you might expect, and perhaps not as long in the mouth, but I appreciate the Pauillac-like graphite note that surfaces with aeration. There is a convincing sense of classicism in this Beychevelle, and it should age with style. 

Producer Commentary:
1969 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 87.0

Drinking window: 2023 - 2024

Tasting notes: Given the vintage, the 1969 Beychevelle is probably a wine that you would only approach with a long stick. But this bottle far exceeds expectations. Fragrant on the nose, it offers whispers of black fruit and tobacco, gaining intensity and becoming quite Pauillac-like in style. The palate is marked by sharp acidity, but it is cohesive and fresh with just a touch of VA on the finish. Would I have a second glass? Maybe not. But I finished the first. Tasted at 67 Pall Mall at Chelsea Vintners' The Complete Bordeaux Vintage Guide dinner.

Producer Commentary:
2013 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 86.0

Drinking window: 2023 - 2028

Tasting notes: The 2013 Beychevelle has a savory nose with simple red berry fruit that becomes a little herbaceous with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, but this is one 2013 that does show a bit of greenness on the finish. Maybe that lends a bit of freshness? Drink soon, either way. Tasted at Bordeaux Index's 10-Year On tasting. 

Producer Commentary:
1953 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 1953 Beychevelle is a vintage that I have not tasted before. It has an animally nose with scorched leather, tertiary scents, autumn leaves and clove. With time there is a faint licorice hint. The palate is medium-bodied and somewhat pales against the preening 1953 Calon-Ségur. This Saint-Julien does slightly attenuate though it retains balance. Tea leaves infuse the slightly dry fruit on the finish. I would drink bottles sooner rather than later. Tasted blind at Olivier Bernard's "3" dinner at Domaine de Chevalier. 

Producer Commentary:
2022 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 96.0

Drinking window: 2030 - 2065

Tasting notes: The 2022 Beychevelle was picked between 12-29 September at 36hL/ha, matured in 70% new oak. It has an intense bouquet with black cherries, blueberry and touches of cassis and violet. Not as ostentatious as some other Saint-Julien wines at this early stage, but delineated, and it positively brims with energy. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit framed by beautifully-sculpted tannins. The 2022 is very harmonious, satin-like in texture, and gently fans out toward the finish. It ends up being one of the most seductive Beychevelles I have tasted from barrel, one not to be overlooked. Chapeau, Mr. White! 14.08% alcohol.

Producer Commentary:
2022 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 2026 - 2036

Tasting notes: The 2022 Amiral de Beychevelle represents around 35% of the blend. It has a well-defined bouquet, relatively pure, leaning more toward red than black fruit. A slight creaminess emanates from the oak. The palate is medium-bodied with pretty firm tannins for a second wine. It's masculine and briny with a touch of black pepper on the finish. Fine. 

Producer Commentary:
2022 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 95.0

Drinking window: 2032 - 2052

Tasting notes: The 2022 Beychevelle is fabulous. In most recent vintages Beychevelle has been a flamboyant, extravagant Saint-Julien, but in 2022 is its surprisingly vibrant and fresh, almost shockingly so. Ripe red cherry/plum fruit, blood orange, rose petal and spice are all beautifully delineated. More than anything, I admire the wine’s freshness and drive, qualities that have not often been present in recent vintages. That makes the 2022 one of my favorite recent vintages here. Tasted three times.

Producer Commentary:
2022 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2042

Tasting notes: The 2022 Amiral de Beychevelle is a plump, juicy second wine taken mostly from a single parcel on the property plus young vines from the château’s core holdings. Forward and supple, the Amiral offers tons of near and medium-term appeal in a fruity style that won’t require much, if any, cellaring. There’s lovely depth and texture here.

Producer Commentary:
2018 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2050

Tasting notes: The 2018 Beychevelle has a very intense nose, easily the most flamboyant of the modern era, with precocious black cherries, creme de cassis and violet scents. The palate is medium-bodied with layers of toasty black fruit laced with white pepper and thyme that exert an insistent grip. This shows slightly better than from my tastings just after bottling, though I maintain that the 2019 is the better of the two vintages. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property.

Producer Commentary:
2017 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2050

Tasting notes: The 2017 Beychevelle seems to have calmed down on the nose in recent months, far more even-tempered with still gorgeous pure red berry fruit laced with pomegranate and espresso. But now I find more Saint-Julien in my glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grain tannins. This feels very cohesive, poised and delineated with a seductive, cassis-tinged finish. Given market prices, I might plump for the 2017 at the moment. Wonderful. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property.

Producer Commentary:
2016 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 95.0

Drinking window: 2028 - 2055

Tasting notes: The 2016 Beychevelle has a very intense, slightly more introverted bouquet than other 2016s that I have tasted: blackberry, incense, cedar and light graphite aromas emerging with time. This is quite Pauillac in style. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, a well-built and structured Beychevelle with ample freshness - more than the 2010 tasted alongside. Based on this showing, the 2016 might be entering a closed phase, so cellar it away for several years. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property.

Producer Commentary:
2015 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2050

Tasting notes: The 2015 Beychevelle has evolved since I last tasted it, this bottle showing a pronounced camphor, slightly medicinal scent that threatens to obscure the terroir expression. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins. This is very pliant and fresh, focused, albeit without the bravura of the 2016. Persistent though and with a fine spicy finish, I would cellar this for another couple of years. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property.

Producer Commentary:
2010 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 93.5

Drinking window: 2025 - 2050

Tasting notes: The 2010 Beychevelle has much more lift and black fruit on the nose compared directly with the 2009. Licorice and violet scents, especially the former, emerge with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with a lightly spiced entry. Huge structure, dense and tannic, powerful with an almost burly finish. You might argue that this lacks a bit of finesse, but it has a sense of audacity uncommon in this Saint-Julien. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property.

Producer Commentary:
2009 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2042

Tasting notes: The 2009 Beychevelle is very perfumed and floral on the nose with brambly red fruit loam, incense and mint. It's well-defined and shows more pedigree than the 2005. The palate is medium-bodied with a supple entry, a fine bead of acidity and slightly grainy in texture. This has a touch of curry leaf towards the finish that I have found on previous bottles. Drinking now, and it should cruise for another 15-20 years. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property.

Producer Commentary:
2008 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2023 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 2008 Beychevelle was undeservedly relegated to the "off-vintages" during this tasting, but it is certainly not that. This has plenty of blackberry, cedar, ash and pencil lead scents on the nose. It has real Saint-Julien typicité. The palate is medium-bodied with solid tannins. The texture feels a bit gritty, but there is freshness and classicism from start to finish, with just the right amount of dryness on the finish. Very fine. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property.

Producer Commentary:
2007 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2035

Tasting notes: The 2007 Beychevelle has an attractive nose, fresher and more complex than others in this flight of off-vintages. Blackberry, briar and melted road tar intermingle, with a touch of five-spice emerging with time. The palate is well balanced with a fine bead of acidity, fresh and with admirable tension. While this is not a complex Beychevelle, there is focus and extant joie-de-vivre. Just pull that cork and enjoy. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property.

Producer Commentary:
2006 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2035

Tasting notes: The 2006 Beychevelle is a solid effort in a difficult vintage, and perhaps this bottle has the edge on the one poured blind six months earlier. There are blackberry, briar and loam traces on the nose, with light cassis notes, again lending it a Margaux-like florality. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red berry fruit, rounded in texture with that touch of truffle, though it just feels a bit muddled on the finish. Here is where it stumbles. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property. 

Producer Commentary:
2003 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 87.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2029

Tasting notes: The 2003 Beychevelle has a rather one-dimensional nose with vestiges of red fruit, singed leather and hung game (though I don't find this bretty like some earlier vintages). The palate is medium-bodied with soft tannins, again, quite gamey and low in acidity. A bit Rhône-like towards the finish, this is a decent 2003 that is not going to go anywhere. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property.

Producer Commentary:
2002 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 85.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2025

Tasting notes: The 2002 Beychevelle has a light, rather dusty/tertiary bouquet that needs more fruit. This is just a bit dull, and the 1999 appears to have more vigor. The palate is medium-bodied with a sharp, angular entry. The acidity is noticeable here, but the finish feels dry and somewhat raw. Frankly, I do not take an enormous amount of pleasure from this. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property.

Producer Commentary:
1999 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 87.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2028

Tasting notes: The 1999 Beychevelle has a mature nose with a touch more freshness and, in my mind, fewer brettanomyces than the 1997, although there is still a bit of leather coming through. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, rustic compared to recent vintage with a slightly bitter finish. This 1999 is not going to go anywhere, so pop 'n pour soon. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property.

Producer Commentary:
1996 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 87.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2028

Tasting notes: The 1996 Beychevelle has a light nose with caramel-tinged red fruit, a little soft and muffled, though not unpleasant. The palate is medium-bodied with dry tannins on the entry. There is quite a bit of brett here, rather gamey toward the finish. I don't mind this 1996, but it is showing its age. This ought to be better given the reputation of both château and vintage. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property.

Producer Commentary:
1986 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 2023 - 2030

Tasting notes: The 1986 Beychevelle is certainly one of the better wines from a rather inconsistent decade for the property. It's one that I've tasted from various formats over the years. This has a lovely, mature nose with loam, mulberry and pencil-shaving scents; it has lost some of its fruit in recent years. The palate is quite different and one of the fleshier Left Bank wines in an otherwise austere growing season, though it just fades a little on the finish. Tasted at a private dinner in Bordeaux. 

Producer Commentary:
1937 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 2023 - 2028

Tasting notes: My solitary encounter with the 1937 Beychevelle comes from an ex-château bottle poured at the Académie du Vin dinner in Bordeaux. Perfumed and, as you would expect, quite autumnal in the nose; nevertheless, like the 1945, it possesses impressive delineation with arboreal scents emerging with time. The palate is medium-bodied and more faded than the aromatics, with Earl Grey scents infusing the black fruit and just a touch of austerity on the finish. Fine, but drink soon. 

Producer Commentary:
1998 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 85.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2025

Tasting notes: The 1998 Beychevelle is a vintage where I have meted out criticism in the past. I just find this very jejune on the nose, lacking real vigor and presence, fatigued. This feels as if the fruit did not reach full ripeness. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins. Rather thin for a Grand Cru Classé, this feels dry on the finish. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property. 

Producer Commentary:
2019 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2055

Tasting notes: The 2019 Beychevelle remains glorious on the nose with detailed red berry fruit, incense and wilted rose petals. Maybe a little more understated than its peers? It has an endearing purity. The palate is medium-bodied with a firm grip, outstanding balance, very well poised with just a touch of glycine toward the finish. Yet another superb bottle. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property.

Producer Commentary:
2014 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 2023 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 2014 Beychevelle has a very strong, pretty surprising medicinal/cough candy scent on the nose that I have never noticed on previous bottles. I presume that it derives from the highest percentage of Merlot and small yield (38hl/ha). Actually, I find this detracts from its typicité. The palate is very smooth on the entry, with good concentration here, though it seems to miss a bit of tension. Lightly spiced red fruit towards the seductive finish, but I have encountered better, more engaging bottles than this in the past. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property.

Producer Commentary:
2013 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 86.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2028

Tasting notes: The 2013 Beychevelle has a very light, tertiary, gravel-scented nose that lacks fruit intensity, like many Left Bank wines in this annus horribilis. The palate is medium-bodied with rustic, grainy tannins. Fine acidity, quite mature with a ferrous, black pepper-tinged, reasonably dry finish. You know, it's not that bad, but I would not leave it in bottle too long. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property.

Producer Commentary:
2012 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 2012 Beychevelle has an attractive nose that displays a little more vim and vigor than the previous vintage: brambly black fruit, sous-bois and a touch of desiccated orange peel. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grip and acidity. A mixture of red and black fruit comingle with clove and thyme, gently building towards a slightly ferrous finish. Very fine. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property.

Producer Commentary:
2011 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2038

Tasting notes: The 2011 Beychevelle is similar to the bottle six months ago with quite a floral, Margaux-like bouquet, cedar and a touch of camphor, bilberry and sous-bois. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins. There is good weight and freshness here, well-balanced with that dash of white pepper on the finish (though less of the truffle than last time.) Still, this is worth your attention. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property. 

Producer Commentary:
2005 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 2005 Beychevelle has an attractive nose with brambly red fruit, marmalade, cedar and light leather aromas. This is just a little rustic, yet full of vigor and presence. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannins. Solid and muscular, it comes across a little uncouth compared to more recent, more refined vintages, though it has an attractive spicy, black pepper-infused finish. Drinking well now, it should give another decade of drinking pleasure. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property.

Producer Commentary:
2004 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2034

Tasting notes: Philippe Blanc mentioned how the 2004 Beychevelle was picked ten days earlier than wanted because of rot. "We harvested ten hectares of Merlot in a day, on a Sunday, which saved us," he recalls. It has quite a punchy bouquet with ample redcurrant and cranberry fruit, clove and thyme, though it lacks the precision and detail of Beychevelle's finer vintages. The palate is medium-bodied with furry tannins, good depth, a solid Saint-Julien without much flair, though I appreciate its savory, spicy finish. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property.

Producer Commentary:
2001 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2038

Tasting notes: The 2001 Beychevelle has more exuberance on the nose compared to the 2000, with brambly red fruit, leather, loam and cedar scents better defined and focused. The palate is well-balanced with fine delineation. Crisp and taut, a judicious touch of spice lends tension, gently building towards the white pepper and orange rind-tinged finish. Delicious. A point. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property. 

Producer Commentary:
2000 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2034

Tasting notes: The 2000 Beychevelle is slightly different from the other ex-château bottle tasted last year. This has a little more presence on the nose with peppermint-tinged red fruit, leather and camphor. Attractive, even if it is missing the typicité of the 2001. The palate is medium-bodied, and here I feel a bit of brett denudes the 2000 of delineation and the freshness it might otherwise have had. Well-knit, yet a little feral on the finish. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property. 

Producer Commentary:
1997 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 86.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2026

Tasting notes: The 1997 Beychevelle has a light, rustic bouquet with degraded red fruit, musk and iron piping scents, maybe just a hint of brettanomyces. The palate is medium-bodied with dusty tannins and ferrous red fruit; again, it's a little bretty with a finish that suggests drinking in the very near future is advisable. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property.

Producer Commentary:
1995 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2032

Tasting notes: The 1995 Beychevelle has a rather ephemeral bouquet considering the growing season, with light brambly red fruit, iron piping and scorched earth aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins. It's fairly fleshy yet without enormous depth and grip. But I appreciate the subtle spiciness/clove on the finish; it feels harmonious. Drink soon. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical at the property. 

Producer Commentary:
1983 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2023 - 2030

Tasting notes: The 1983 Beychevelle may constitute one of the hidden gems of this era. A recent bottle was not quite firing on all cylinders. The best encounter remains a double magnum direct from the château that boasted outgoing black fruit and cigar box mixed with cedar scents. The palate is well-balanced, a fairly "gutsy" Saint-Julien. What it lacks in finesse, it compensates with concentration and backbone. Tasted at home from my own cellar.

Producer Commentary:
1945 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 95.0

Drinking window: 2023 - 2030

Tasting notes: I have had two encounters with the 1945 Beychevelle, albeit some years ago. Both attest to a great Saint-Julien from a property that enjoyed a postwar purple patch. The nose is astonishing: vivacious and ripe so that it felt almost botrytised, with hints of licorice leather and cigar box. The palate is medium-bodied with a sensual and smooth texture. It must have been very concentrated in its youth but has held on to a sense of verve and harmony. Sublime. Tasted at the Beychevelle vertical in London in May 2008.

Producer Commentary:
1929 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 2023 - 2026

Tasting notes: The 1929 Beychevelle could not disguise its age when poured at the property. Leathery on the nose, it comes across as soft and muffled with light clove and cola scents. The palate is gentle and soothing, keeping with the style of the vintage. It's quasi-Burgundy-like towards the pastille finish. Well-kept bottles may still give pleasure, though I suggest drinking any remaining examples soon. Tasted at Château Beychevelle. 

Producer Commentary:
2019 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 96.0

Drinking window: 2026 - 2060

Tasting notes: The 2019 Beychevelle has a very appealing, quite intellectual, pencil box and earthy nose that unfurls in the glass, taut and focused, the oak supremely well integrated. The palate is beautifully balanced with finely-sculpted tannins, wonderful balance, fresh and mineral-driven with a precise and complex finish. Superb sapidity, this is top notch with a long future ahead. Time to raise my score. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting. 

Producer Commentary:
2019 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 2026 - 2040

Tasting notes: 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. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting. 

Producer Commentary:
2020 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 96.0

Drinking window: 2030 - 2055

Tasting notes: The 2020 Beychevelle is a wild, exotic beauty. Blackberry jam, gravel, crushed rocks menthol and espresso ristretto give Beychevelle its flamboyant personality. All the elements are so well balanced in this full-throttle, hugely enjoyable Saint-Julien. The 2020 is lights out.

Producer Commentary:
2020 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2032

Tasting notes: The 2020 Amiral de Beychevelle, bottled at the end of March 2022, had a Margaux-like bouquet out of barrel, but in bottle, it seems to revert to Saint-Julien with black fruit, tobacco, tea leaves and bay leaf. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit. It's gained a bit of weight during its élevage while retaining freshness and sapidity on the finish. This has meliorated and deserves higher than my banded primeur score. 

Producer Commentary:
2020 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2050

Tasting notes: The 2020 Beychevelle was perplexing from barrel. Re-tasting it three or four times, I discerned a faint but nagging vegetal note on the finish, though it was not evident on a bottle subsequently tasted at the property, which governed my banded score. Returning to Bordeaux to taste the wines that had been bottled in June 2022, I certainly appreciate the bouquet that is clean and pure with blackberry, bilberry, cedar and background sous-bois aromas. The oak is beautifully integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins and well-judged acidity. Quite intense black fruit laced with graphite, perhaps a tad more peppery than usual. On the first bottle encountered at a merchant, I picked up on the green note that sent alarm bells ringing. A second bottle at the château unequivocally showed no signs at all, very sleek and poised with a residual tingle of black pepper. Based on this sample, I am cautiously optimistic about this Beychevelle, though I will always keep a lookout for that trait. 

Producer Commentary:
2012 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2033

Tasting notes: The 2012 Beychevelle has a relatively precocious nose for a Saint-Julien in this vintage - upfront red fruit, orange peel and allspice. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant and saturated tannins. There seems to be more extraction here, sweet towards the finish but missing some complexity. Maybe it will improve with bottle age? A second bottle comes across a little green on the finish. 

Producer Commentary:
2021 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2026 - 2050

Tasting notes: The 2021 Beychevelle has a pleasant, light bouquet that needs coaxing from the glass, eventually offering blackberry, briar, peppermint and sage aromas. The oak here is neatly integrated, though it does not possess the dimension of the previous vintage. The palate is medium-bodied with quite a firm grip on the entry. The Cabernet Sauvignon is fully in the driving seat here, imparting quite intense blackberry and graphite notes. As with many Saint-Julien barrel samples, a Pauillac-like structure comes through. The licorice-tinged finish is fresh and focused. This is quite an endearing Beychevelle after the challenging growing season. 

Producer Commentary:
Philippe Blanc, head winemaker for some 29 vintages at the estate, explained: “We had a decent crop thanks to us escaping the frost and good vineyard management during the huge mildew pressure from May to July. Summer temperatures were lower than in recent years with few days over 30°C and around 30-40mm of rain, so it was not particularly wet. We came in over weekends to protect the crop. We stopped spraying quite early, 11 times compared to 19 times elsewhere, which is not to say we are number one. But the vineyard management was successful. The harvest was from 25 September and then stopped twice when it rained, 14 or 15 days of picking with our 100 pickers, 50 from Romania as we cannot find them locally. Sugar levels were lower, but the fruit was ripe, so Merlots came in at around 12%. We ended up with over 50hL/ha, and that meant that during blending, we had more scope to make choices. The more we produce more volume, the more we deselect, so that 54% of production went into the Grand Vin in 2021. Our terroir tends to ripen later which gave us an advantage in 2021.
2021 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2038

Tasting notes: The 2021 Amiral de Beychevelle has an attractive, well-endowed bouquet; in fact, I might prefer the aromatics here vis-à-vis the previous vintage. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, lively red berry fruit and white pepper and clove on the finish, which delivers good length. A fine Deuxième Vin.

Producer Commentary:
Philippe Blanc, head winemaker for some 29 vintages at the estate, explained: “We had a decent crop thanks to us escaping the frost and good vineyard management during the huge mildew pressure from May to July. Summer temperatures were lower than in recent years with few days over 30°C and around 30-40mm of rain, so it was not particularly wet. We came in over weekends to protect the crop. We stopped spraying quite early, 11 times compared to 19 times elsewhere, which is not to say we are number one. But the vineyard management was successful. The harvest was from 25 September and then stopped twice when it rained, 14 or 15 days of picking with our 100 pickers, 50 from Romania as we cannot find them locally. Sugar levels were lower, but the fruit was ripe, so Merlots came in at around 12%. We ended up with over 50hL/ha, and that meant that during blending, we had more scope to make choices. The more we produce more volume, the more we deselect, so that 54% of production went into the Grand Vin in 2021. Our terroir tends to ripen later which gave us an advantage in 2021.
2020 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 87.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2032

Tasting notes: The 2020 Amiral de Beychevelle has a fragrant bouquet of blackberry, cedar and touches of thyme, all nicely defined. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins, modest depth and a little chewiness on the finish. 

Producer Commentary:
Philippe Blanc, head winemaker for some 29 vintages at the estate, explained: “We had a decent crop thanks to us escaping the frost and good vineyard management during the huge mildew pressure from May to July. Summer temperatures were lower than in recent years with few days over 30°C and around 30-40mm of rain, so it was not particularly wet. We came in over weekends to protect the crop. We stopped spraying quite early, 11 times compared to 19 times elsewhere, which is not to say we are number one. But the vineyard management was successful. The harvest was from 25 September and then stopped twice when it rained, 14 or 15 days of picking with our 100 pickers, 50 from Romania as we cannot find them locally. Sugar levels were lower, but the fruit was ripe, so Merlots came in at around 12%. We ended up with over 50hL/ha, and that meant that during blending, we had more scope to make choices. The more we produce more volume, the more we deselect, so that 54% of production went into the Grand Vin in 2021. Our terroir tends to ripen later which gave us an advantage in 2021.
2021 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2031 - 2046

Tasting notes: The 2021 Beychevelle is rich and sumptuous, but not quite as pushed in that direction as some recent vintages have been. Then again, that sort of opulence was simply not possible in 2021. Even so, the 2021 flows with dark blue/purplish fruit, incense, espresso, mocha, menthol and licorice. All the elements are so well balanced. The 2021 is a terrific Beychevelle with a bright future. 

Producer Commentary:
2011 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2032

Tasting notes: The 2011 Beychevelle has a well defined bouquet with brambly black fruit, bilberry, cedar and light graphite scents. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, fine acidity, a dash of white pepper and truffle, with just a hint of cassis on the Margaux-like finish. Not bad, though not the best that Philippe Blanc has ever made. It reflects the limitations of the vintage. Tasted blind at the annual 10-Year-On tasting.

Producer Commentary:
2019 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 87.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2029

Tasting notes: Beychevelle has been on a roll, especially these last few years. I expected quite a bit more from the 2019, but the two bottles I have tasted so far have been marked by an awkward combination of super-ripe fruit, vegetal notes and hard, aggressive contours.

Producer Commentary:
2019 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 2023 - 2033

Tasting notes: The 2019 Amiral de Beychevelle takes time to unfurl, revealing black cherries, red plum and light floral scents. There is just a hint of vanilla pod in the background. The palate is medium-bodied, fresh and elegant, with sappy black fruit and quite a fine bead of acidity, leading to a cohesive, elegant finish. This is a lovely Amiral from Philippe Blanc and his team. 

Producer Commentary:
2019 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2060

Tasting notes: The 2019 Beychevelle presents a perfumed nose of blackberry, wilted rose petals, incense and a touch of violet that ebbs with aeration. Elegant, poised and focused, this is a succinct and quite complex Saint-Julien. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins and wonderful depth, still retaining the discreet marine influence but showing a little more depth and rondeur on the persistent finish. This is a delicious Beychevelle. 13.7° alcohol

Producer Commentary:
2001 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2021 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 2001 Beychevelle has been an inconsistent performer in the past. Now at 20 years, the aromatics seem to have cohered, displaying slightly more delineation than the 2000 and offering black fruit, loam, mint and a touch of pine cone. The lightly spiced palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins, lithe and focused. A dash of white pepper and blood orange appears toward the finish. This might well be the best bottle that I have encountered. 

Producer Commentary:
2000 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 2021 - 2030

Tasting notes: The 2000 Beychevelle has a delightful bouquet of blackberry, briar and light saline scents; a whiff of the old Gironde estuary develops in the glass. A touch of brettanomyces, maybe? The palate is medium-bodied with lithe tannins, and quite open and harmonious, although this not a deep or powerful Saint-Julien. Less austere than it once was, and simply a fine millennial that is drinking perfectly now. 

Producer Commentary:
2015 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2055

Tasting notes: The 2015 Beychevelle comes across as much more powerful and plush in bottle than it did as a barrel sample. The black cherry, smoke, leather, tobacco, spice and incense notes are all endowed with notable textural depth. Voluptuous but also quite tannic, the 2015 is going to need at least a few years to come into its own. Readers should expect a powerful, brooding Saint-Julien. Tasted two times. 

Producer Commentary:
2017 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 2021 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 2017 Beychevelle was cropped at 54hl/ha between 18 September and 3 October, matured in around 60% new oak with 13.4° alcohol. It has a very ripe blueberry, almost iodine-scented bouquet that is much more extroverted than its peers (like the 2016 last year.) The palate is medium-bodied with sweet black cherry and boysenberry fruit, and plenty of crushed violet. The palate is ripe and succulent; a sweet core of blue and black fruit here although perhaps its neighbor across the road, Branaire Ducru, displays a little more terroir at this early stage. Maybe that is because of the saignée? I would just like to see a little more restraint come through in bottle while I noticed greater precision developing during the 30 minutes the sample spent in my glass. 

Producer Commentary:
At Beychevelle, Romain Ducolomb, who basically did the opposite of Aymeric de Gironde and swapped Right Bank for the Left Bank when he departed Clinet, was on hand to tell me about the 2017. “We were lucky as we were not impacted by the frost at all. It was the biggest crop since 1999. Flowering was very good. June to August was very good weather but in September there was some rain, around 80mm, which meant that vintage was not as good as it could have been. We did more saignée to get rid of the water, around 50% for the first wine.” The superlative 2016, the first vintage made in their brand new “see-through” winery, was always going to be difficult to follow, though I think that Roman and Philippe Blanc did a sterling job. It is a more modern style of Beychevelle, perhaps stylistically not unlike Léoville-Poyferré with its floral aromatics and sumptuous fruit, eschewing the more classic style of vintages up until about five or six years ago. It just did not quite convey the harmony and precision of the best vintages of Beychevelle, yet the 2017 is leagues above their 1990s output, even if not from the very top drawer.
2017 Admiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 86.0

Drinking window: 2019 - 2026

Tasting notes: The 2017 Admiral de Beychevelle has a ripe bouquet with small black cherries, blueberry and violet, a more glycerin-driven deuxième vin compared to others. The palate is medium-bodied with sweet and chewy tannin, quite firm in the mouth, sinewy when I would be seeking a little more flesh towards the finish. 

Producer Commentary:
1958 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 83.0

Drinking window: 2018 - 2020

Tasting notes: The 1958 Beychevelle has a pale color as you would expect after 60 years. The bouquet is fully mature and now missing some freshness, a little dusty compared directly with the 1958 Canon-la-Gaffelière. The palate is medium-bodied but lacks some weight. Light tannins frame vestiges of red fruit with a strong tobacco note on the dry finish. Drink up. Tasted at the Académie du Vin dinner.

Producer Commentary:
1989 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 2018 - 2030

Tasting notes: The 1989 Beychevelle has plenty of dark berry fruit on the nose, touches of seawater and briary. Certainly very "old school" in style but I notice how it gains harmony in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with well defined black fruit, quite fresh and edgy, dovetailing into more red fruit towards the second half. One can tell it must have been quite a precocious Beychevelle in its youth and though, it has faded in recent years, this 1989 remains charming. It should offer another decade's worth of drinking pleasure. Tasted blind at "Philip's Belated February Christmas Party."

Producer Commentary:
1999 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 86.0

Drinking window: 2019 - 2023

Tasting notes: The 1999 Beychevelle is a vintage that I have not encountered for some time. It has a simple nose of brambly red fruit, leather and the espresso note that I observed in previous vintages. The palate is medium-bodied with rustic tannin. This feels a little hard and pinched in the mouth, and the rustic, ferrous finish shortchanges you in terms of length. The 1999 should be consumed in the near future. Far better wines are being made by the château nowadays. Tasted from an ex-château bottle at the estate.

Producer Commentary:
2017 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 2017 Beychevelle was, atypically for the vintage, quite ostentatious from barrel. Not in bottle! It has retained an atypical rich and generous bouquet that you could almost mistake for the following vintage with scents of red cherries, boysenberry, hints of crème de cassis and violet. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins and fine acidity. It feels a little compact at the moment although I admire its focus. Picking at straws, it just feels abrupt on the finish, scrapers out of the exit door a bit too hastily. As such, this is a good Beychevelle, but not one of the best in recent years. Tasted twice with consistent notes. 

Producer Commentary:
2010 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 2023 - 2055

Tasting notes: The 2010 Beychevelle has a dense bouquet with blackberry and wild hedgerow aromas. The oak is neatly integrated and with subtle iodine scents developing with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannins, a superb line of acidity, fresh and vibrant with a distinctive graphite note towards the Pauillac-like finish. I love the linearity and precision of this Saint-Julien, real class here. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners 10-Year On Bordeaux horizontal. 

Producer Commentary:
2019 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2060

Tasting notes: The 2019 Beychevelle, one of the only wines that I actually tasted at the château with Philippe Blanc prior to lockdown, has a wonderful bouquet with detailed blackberry, briary, cedar and light touches of mocha unfurling from the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, a fine bead of acidity, a discrete marine influence taking over towards the finish. There is a tang of seaweed and brine on the aftertaste. It keeps you coming back for more. This is a great 2019 from Blanc and his team though we must wait to see if it will surpass their 2018.

Producer Commentary:
2018 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2045

Tasting notes: The 2018 Beychevelle has a fresh, fragrant nose with plenty of blackberry, gravel, mint and incense aromas. It is not the most powerful Saint-Julien but it is certainly very well defined. The palate is medium-bodied with a crisp entry and plenty of sappy black fruit, quite dense for Beychevelle. Tasting it three or four times, the first example showed an unexpected greenness on the finish; however, this was not evident on the others sampled. 

Producer Commentary:
2020 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score:

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: This Saint-Julien estate has produced wonderful wines from their new winery in recent years under head winemaker, the congenial Philippe Blanc. But my job is to tell it like it is and the truth is that all three bottles of the 2020 Beychevelle tasted from different sources, including one directly from the château and with different sample dates, left me scratching my head. It was picked from 14 September to 29 September and cropped at 47hl/ha. Initially, it has a backward and herbal nose, attractive black fruit with touches of tobacco and mulch, the latter turning slightly vegetal. The palate is medium-bodied with blackberries tinged with bay leaf and a touch of white pepper. However, the first bottle exhibited some unwanted green/stalky notes that poked out on the finish. It was less evident on the second bottle sent directly from the estate that was given 90 minutes' aeration. Unexpectedly a third bottle arrived, this taken from barrel later on 17 May. I was hoping it would disprove my findings, so I had it served blind. I picked it up again - just like the first. Now, maybe this will be assimilated during its élevage after all, I occasionally notice this trait on Brane-Cantenac and with time it becomes subsumed, even enhancing complexity. But because all three samples left me vexed, I will refrain from scoring this wine and revisit the bottle later on. The only thing I can promise is that I will tell you exactly what I find.

Producer Commentary:
2020 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 95.0

Drinking window: 2030 - 2055

Tasting notes: The 2020 Beychevelle opens with the most exotic bouquet imaginable. Wild flowers of all sorts, spice, lavender and inky dark fruit all saturate the palate. As always, Beychevelle is an overt, flamboyant wine, but all of the elements are so well out together. The 2020 is sexy, alluring and impossible to resist. Time in the glass brings out redder tonalities of fruit along with sweet floral notes that add striking inner perfume. Even as a barrel sample, I am so tempted to just drink it. 

Producer Commentary:
2020 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 95.0

Drinking window: 2028 - 2055

Tasting notes: The 2020 Beychevelle is the one wine that I vowed to re-taste at the château since I found three samples tasting in the UK vexing because of a green taint on the finish. Here, the nose performs well: pure blackberry and crushed violet, none of those incongruous “mulch” or “vegetal” scents that I noticed before. That’s a good omen. The palate? This is far different to the samples tasted before. I think there is still a very nuanced green/bell pepper note towards the finish, but here it is subsumed into the layers of black fruit. Swallowing a sip just to be certain, I am more reassured that the samples in the UK were unrepresentative and glad that I did not attribute a score, which I am happy to do now. 

Producer Commentary:
2018 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 96.0

Drinking window: 2028 - 2043

Tasting notes: An unabashedly flamboyant, exotic wine, the 2018 Beychevelle possesses tremendous richness and raciness right out of the gate. Inky dark fruit, chocolate, licorice, spice, menthol and espresso infuse this sumptuous Saint-Julien with striking aromatic and flavor complexity. Soft contours and silky tannins add to its irresistibly sensual personality. Time in the cellar should help the new oak assimilate, but readers should be prepared for a full-throttle, heady wine. 

Producer Commentary:
2009 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2020 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 2009 Beychevelle is easily the best of three vintages tasted at the property alongside the 1989 and 1999. This has a much more fruit-driven bouquet with blackberry, orange blossom, tobacco, hints of girolles and graphite. This is quite complex and engaging. The palate is medium-bodied with fine and lithe tannins plus a well judged line of acidity. I appreciate the freshness and structure to this Beychevelle, especially this bottle that is a little more saline than other examples. This is just beginning to motor but it is much more classic than a few years ago. Tasted at the château.

Producer Commentary:
2014 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 91.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: A big, powerful wine for the year, the 2014 Beychevelle is going to need quite a bit of time to fully come together. Today, the 2014 is quite bold, with notable concentration and overall intensity. Lavender, mint, spices, cedar and new leather are all nicely delineated. It will be interesting to see if the 2014 fleshes out a bit more from here. Tasted two times. 

Producer Commentary:
2016 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 92.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: A heady wine, the 2016 Beychevelle possesses off-the-charts richness and intensity. White truffle, plum, lavender, black cherry and incense, along with an unctuous, racy feel, give the wine much of its exotic, voluptuous personality. Not at all subtle, the 2016 shows the more flamboyant side of Saint-Julien. Its balance is beyond reproach, however. Ripeness is pushed to the edge in 2016, yet the wine is absolutely compelling. This is a fabulous showing from Beychevelle and technical director Romain Ducolomb. Tasted two times. 

Producer Commentary:
2017 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 93.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2017 Beychevelle is absolutely gorgeous. Creamy and beautifully layered on the palate, Beychevelle exudes exotic richness in its ripe red/purplish berry fruit. Even though the 2017 is rather flamboyant in style, it retains quite a bit of brightness to play off its more extroverted leanings. Beychevelle was impressive on the several times I tasted it. 

Producer Commentary:
1995 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 88.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Good deep color. Subdued but clean aromas of toasty oak, cassis and spice, with a faintly syrah-like meat and raspberry character. Sweet, supple and round in the mouth; has the ripeness some recent vintages here have lacked. Note of caramel. Lacks only real complexity. Finishes with dusty, tongue-coating, ripe tannins. Actually rather soft for a '95 St. Julien, which is by no means a bad thing. 

Producer Commentary:
My visit here turned up a pleasant surprise. Following a fairly weak '94 made from rather high yields, this château harvested a more reasonable 50 hectoliters per hectare in '95 (a good 15% less than the previous year) and got correspondingly riper fruit. The '95 is aging in about 60% new oak, and a sampling of several barrels revealed much less of the rusticity that has plagued some recent vintages here—and better depth of flavor.
2016 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score:

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2016 Beychevelle has quite a raucous bouquet with lashings of black cherries, blueberry and violet aromas, almost Margaux-like in style. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, not quite as well knitted together as its peers, and there is a slight greenness that pokes through on the finish. For that reason I marked it down, though frustratingly, that greenness seems to disappear. I was not quite sure this bottle was 100% representative. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting. 

Producer Commentary:
2015 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2015 Beychevelle has a fresh blackberry and briary bouquet of impressive delineation and vigor; hints of smoke and pencil shavings emerge with time. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, wonderful tension and an almost effervescent, nervous finish that leaves a tongue-tingling dash of black pepper in its wake. So much potential here. As I have written before, this is one of Philippe Blanc's great Beychevelles. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting. 

Producer Commentary:
2018 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 94.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2018 Beychevelle is an exceptional, utterly vivid wine. Deep and beautifully layered in the glass, the 2018 has so much to offer. Super-ripe black cherry, crème de cassis, licorice, new oak and chocolate infuse this unctuous, spectacularly ripe Saint-Julien. Beychevelle is exotic, flamboyant and full-throttle, not to mention absolutely stunning. The high presence of Merlot in the blend gives Beychevelle much of its sensuality. What a wine! The 2018 is 50% Merlot, 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc. Tasted three times. .

Producer Commentary:
2020 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 87.0

Drinking window: 2024 - 2032

Tasting notes: The 2020 Amiral de Beychevelle, matured in 40% new oak, is quite showy on the nose of upfront black and blue fruit, and quite floral in a Margaux-like way. The palate is medium-bodied with a slightly herbal opening, tea leaf and graphite infusing the black fruit. The finish is straightforward but balanced, and there’s a very slight green note on the aftertaste. 

Producer Commentary:
2017 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 86.0

Drinking window: 2020 - 2026

Tasting notes: The 2017 Amiral de Beychevelle has quite a perfumed bouquet with brambly red fruit laced with balsamic and light cedar aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, a little chalky in texture but fresh and vibrant. All it really lacks is depth and grip, but as a second wine it serves its purpose without any frills. 

Producer Commentary:
2018 Amiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 85.0

Drinking window: 2020 - 2024

Tasting notes: The 2018 Amiral de Beychevelle has what you might call a "glossy" and generous bouquet packed full of ripe blueberry and black cherry fruit. It is attractive although just misses some Saint-Julien typicité. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins and a core of sweet fruit, however, there is a green note on the finish that juts out and leaves a residue in the mouth. I wonder if there was a lot that did not quite achieve phenolic maturity in this Deuxième Vin? I remain cautious at the moment. 

Producer Commentary:
2001 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 86.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Good full ruby-red. Rather cool aromas of cassis, bitter chocolate, tobacco leaf and shoe polish; shows a slightly musky, herbaceous aspect. Then moderately dense but a bit green, with the herbaceous character carrying through in the mouth and on the finish. Seems a bit dry on the end, with spiky tannins and modest length. Blanc emphasized that the malolactic fermentation went slowly in 2001, and that this wine had only been blended in February, suggesting that it was thus too early to get an accurate look at the new vintage.

Producer Commentary:
Beychevelle harvested its cabernet during the first half of October. "We did not get rot, but we couldn't wait any longer to pick," noted technical director Philippe Blanc. Grape sugars were a bit lower than those of 2000, and a 15% saignee was carried out, even though the crop was smaller than that of the previous year. "The new vintage is smaller in all dimensions than the 2000," admitted Blanc.
1998 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Very good full ruby. Pungent aromas of blackberry, cassis, roast coffee, minerals and cedary oak. Concentrated, vinous and deep, with bright acidity framing and extending the fruit. Finishes firmly tannic and classically dry, with a hint of leather. Developing nicely.

Producer Commentary:
This estate '98 is better than its '95, maintains technical director Philippe Blanc. The '96 may ultimately be better than the '98, he adds, "but certainly if we had done the vineyard work and careful harvesting in '96 that we did by '98 the '96 would have been clearly outstanding." Beychevelle brought in a fairly sizable 58 hectoliters per hectare in '99, compared to 49 the previous year. But grape sugars were higher, reaching 14% in the merlot, and saignee was used extensively.
2004 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Red-ruby. Musky aromas of plum, redcurrant, espresso, tobacco leaf and smoked meat. Silky on entry, then firm in the middle, with a slightly dry character to the plum flavor. A tad musky and wild but with no shortage of complexity. "But the 2006 has more structure and body," says technical director Blanc.

Producer Commentary:
Following a green harvest through half of their acreage, Beychevelle produced 48 hectoliters per hectare in 2006, said technical director Philippe Blanc. The ripeness, he said, was good. "On September 10, we had some merlots at 14% but then it started to rain. Ultimately, the merlots were not very attractive." Still, this chateau has replanted some cabernet sauvignon over to merlot in recent years, in some instances using grafting to save time, as the team believes that certain soils on the property are better suited to merlot than to cabernet. In the past few years, Blanc has narrowed down the selection of barrels from 12 coopers to just 6 or 7, and has ordered all his barriques with medium toast.
2007 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 87.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Medium red-ruby. Plum, black cherry and smoke on the nose, with a hint of menthol. Supple, fruity and easygoing, with modest depth and a restrained sweetness to its dark cherry, chocolate and menthol flavors. In a rather elegant, savory style, finishing with dusty tannins and perfumed notes of spices and flowers. Blanc told me that he did a saignee and a bit of vacuum evaporation to raise the potential alcohol of the cabernet sauvignon from 11.5% to 12.5%. (An earlier, less impressive sample seemed a bit sullen in the middle palate and a tad dry on the back.)

Producer Commentary:
"What can I tell you that you haven't already heard?" was how technical director Philippe Blanc prefaced his remarks about the 2007 vintage. "Actually, from May 2 through August 25 we had below-average rainfall," he said. "The problem was that we had at least a bit of rain every two or three days through the season. We spent the most money ever in the vineyards, not just protecting against mildew but pulling leaves on both sides of the vines and carrying out a green harvest." Blanc told me that the malolactic fermentation here takes place in about 300 of the 1,000 barrels of the grand vin, but he believes that this offers no advantages "past the en primeur tastings" in the spring.
2009 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 91.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Bright ruby. Aromas of dark berries, licorice, bitter chocolate and menthol, with a hint of leather. Densely packed, pliant and glossy, with strong acidity and an herbal element buffering the wine's sweetness. The lightly herbal quality carries through on the long finish, which features dusty tannins and noteworthy energy. A very strong vintage for this property.

Producer Commentary:
2005 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Good deep red-ruby. Subtle oak accents very ripe aromas of plum, currant, mocha, chocolate and tobacco leaf. Sweet, ripe and broad, with good density and freshness to the currant and spice flavors. Not a blockbuster but sweeter than the 2006 and longer on the aftertaste, finishing with fairly substantial but ripe tannins.

Producer Commentary:
"What can I tell you that you haven't already heard?" was how technical director Philippe Blanc prefaced his remarks about the 2007 vintage. "Actually, from May 2 through August 25 we had below-average rainfall," he said. "The problem was that we had at least a bit of rain every two or three days through the season. We spent the most money ever in the vineyards, not just protecting against mildew but pulling leaves on both sides of the vines and carrying out a green harvest." Blanc told me that the malolactic fermentation here takes place in about 300 of the 1,000 barrels of the grand vin, but he believes that this offers no advantages "past the en primeur tastings" in the spring.
1997 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 86.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Medium red-ruby. Currant, tobacco and smoky oak aromas. Gentle and oak-spicy in the mouth, with good texture and modest depth. Easygoing wine, finishing with light tannins and rather strongly oaky flavors of char and spice.

Producer Commentary:
The estate dropped a good bit of crop through the growing season, said technical director Philippe Blanc, and the ultimate crop level was reduced by another 15% due to severe sunburn on August 8 and 9. Yields ultimately were in the 49 hectoliters-per-hectare range, and no saignee was done (however, Beychevelle has made use of vacuum evaporation since the early '90s). Blanc describes '98 as less ripe than '96, perhaps similar to '95 in quality. "But today we're doing more green harvesting and leaf-pulling," he noted, "and we're also doing a better job harvesting, picking block by block based on phenolic analysis."
2004 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 87.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Very good ruby-red. Roasted dark currant, chocolate and tobacco leaf on the nose. Suave and moderately ripe, with an enticing chocolatey quality, but can't match the 2005 for concentration or verve. Vintage 2004 saw a rather full crop here. Finishes with suggestions of chocolate and leather.

Producer Commentary:
Beychevelle harvested fruit in 2005 with the highest sugars ever recorded here, according to technical director Philippe Blanc, thanks in large part to the relatively low yield of 42 hectoliters per hectare. The merlot reached 15% potential alcohol, with the average around 14.2%. "This was the first time we made the wine with no chaptalization and no use of the concentrator," said Blanc. Still, Blanc was happy to have cabernet at 12.4% to add balance to the wine. The blend, which represents a 70% selection, weighs in at 13.4%. Blanc, incidentally, ranks 2005 as one of the best recent vintages, with '00 and '96. But he believes the new wine is more elegant than the 2000.
2006 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 88.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Red-ruby. Currant, chocolate, tobacco and sexy oak on the musky, expressive nose. More juicy and higher-pitched than the 2007, with more acidity and tannic grip to the flavors of black fruits, truffle and chocolate. A stylish Beychevelle with subtle sweetness and good balance. The IPT here is 72, noted Blanc, compared to 67 for the 2007, and the pH here is a tad lower: 3.86, vs. 3.89. This is showing well, especially considering that it was on its finings when I tried it.

Producer Commentary:
"What can I tell you that you haven't already heard?" was how technical director Philippe Blanc prefaced his remarks about the 2007 vintage. "Actually, from May 2 through August 25 we had below-average rainfall," he said. "The problem was that we had at least a bit of rain every two or three days through the season. We spent the most money ever in the vineyards, not just protecting against mildew but pulling leaves on both sides of the vines and carrying out a green harvest." Blanc told me that the malolactic fermentation here takes place in about 300 of the 1,000 barrels of the grand vin, but he believes that this offers no advantages "past the en primeur tastings" in the spring.
2005 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 91.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Deep, ripe ruby-red. Currant, coffee, mocha and nutty oak on the nose. Round, suave and sweet, with good breadth and verve to the flavors of plum, currant, mocha and chocolate. Finishes with substantial but fine tannins and noteworthy subtlety and persistence. This must be Blanc's best vintage yet at Beychevelle (he began here in 1995).

Producer Commentary:
Following a green harvest through half of their acreage, Beychevelle produced 48 hectoliters per hectare in 2006, said technical director Philippe Blanc. The ripeness, he said, was good. "On September 10, we had some merlots at 14% but then it started to rain. Ultimately, the merlots were not very attractive." Still, this chateau has replanted some cabernet sauvignon over to merlot in recent years, in some instances using grafting to save time, as the team believes that certain soils on the property are better suited to merlot than to cabernet. In the past few years, Blanc has narrowed down the selection of barrels from 12 coopers to just 6 or 7, and has ordered all his barriques with medium toast.
1999 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 86.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Moderately saturated red-ruby. Cherry, leather and strong oak notes of smoke and nutmeg. Supple on entry, then rather dry in the middle. Shows good cherry and berry fruit on the finish, but the dusty tannins grew dryer with aeration.

Producer Commentary:
In addition to the high-quality cabernet, the 2000 harvest here featured very ripe merlot and petit verdot, said maitre de chai Lucien Soussotte. In comparison, in the previous vintage the estate had to interrupt its merlot harvest to pick the petit verdot, which was beginning to rot. Beginning in 2001, Beychevelle will allow some of its best lots to go through malolactic fermentation in barrel.
2003 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Dullish ruby-red. Full-blown, exotic aromas of plum jam, roasted meat and leather, with a suggestion of tropical chocolate. Big, plush and full; a seamless wine that avoids coming off as flat. Finishes with ripe tannins and a lingering flavor of chocolate. I underrated this wine in barrel. Unusually fleshy for Beychevelle, which is not a bad thing.

Producer Commentary:
Beychevelle harvested fruit in 2005 with the highest sugars ever recorded here, according to technical director Philippe Blanc, thanks in large part to the relatively low yield of 42 hectoliters per hectare. The merlot reached 15% potential alcohol, with the average around 14.2%. "This was the first time we made the wine with no chaptalization and no use of the concentrator," said Blanc. Still, Blanc was happy to have cabernet at 12.4% to add balance to the wine. The blend, which represents a 70% selection, weighs in at 13.4%. Blanc, incidentally, ranks 2005 as one of the best recent vintages, with '00 and '96. But he believes the new wine is more elegant than the 2000.
2006 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (a blend of 59% cabernet sauvignon, 29% merlot, 7% cabernet franc and 5% petit verdot) Aromas of dark cherry, licorice, minerals and bay leaf, with a light weedy quality. Then supple, sweet and fruit-driven, with good breadth for the year. Finishes with rather suave tannins and good length.

Producer Commentary:
Following a green harvest through half of their acreage, Beychevelle produced 48 hectoliters per hectare in 2006, said technical director Philippe Blanc. The ripeness, he said, was good. "On September 10, we had some merlots at 14% but then it started to rain. Ultimately, the merlots were not very attractive." Still, this chateau has replanted some cabernet sauvignon over to merlot in recent years, in some instances using grafting to save time, as the team believes that certain soils on the property are better suited to merlot than to cabernet. In the past few years, Blanc has narrowed down the selection of barrels from 12 coopers to just 6 or 7, and has ordered all his barriques with medium toast.
1996 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 87.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Very good ruby-red. Spicy, expressive aromas of currant, leather and milk chocolate, plus a suggestion of stewed fruit. Sweet, lush and superripe in the mouth; the faint pruney quality repeats on the palate. Tannins are a bit tough. A whiff of damp earth on the finish detracts from the wine freshness.

Producer Commentary:
The estate dropped a good bit of crop through the growing season, said technical director Philippe Blanc, and the ultimate crop level was reduced by another 15% due to severe sunburn on August 8 and 9. Yields ultimately were in the 49 hectoliters-per-hectare range, and no saignee was done (however, Beychevelle has made use of vacuum evaporation since the early '90s). Blanc describes '98 as less ripe than '96, perhaps similar to '95 in quality. "But today we're doing more green harvesting and leaf-pulling," he noted, "and we're also doing a better job harvesting, picking block by block based on phenolic analysis."
2012 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 89.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (47% cabernet sauvignon, 44% merlot, 5% petit verdot and 4% cabernet franc; 67% selection for the grand vin; 42 h/h): Fully saturated deep purple-red. Aromas of black cherry, flowers and aromatic spices. Then surprisingly big and almost chunky for Beychevelle, with rich blackberry and black cherry flavors dominating. This crowd-pleaser finishes smooth, ripely tannic and long.

Producer Commentary:
2004 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Moderately saturated red-ruby. Cassis, blackberry, tobacco, cedar and currant leaf on the aromatic nose, along with a faint leathery rusticity. A juicy, spicy midweight, with a sweet, perfumed quality and sound acidity in the mouth. Not especially dense, but flavorful, minerally and brisk. Finishes with good grip and a repeating note of leather.

Producer Commentary:
Both the 2004 and 2003 vintages here weigh in at 12.9% alcohol, but 2004 brought higher acidity as well as a much larger crop (54 hectoliters per hectare of wine will be produced, compared to 34 in 2003). More extraction is now being done here at the beginning of the fermentation. But though I very much enjoyed the aromatic quality of the young 2004, the wine seems a bit lacking in flavor authority and grip compared to the best St. Juliens from this vintage.
1999 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 87.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Good medium ruby. Pure aromas of cassis, violet and licorice. Reasonably bright on the palate, but a wine of moderate density and concentration. Not currently showing the sweetness or the grip of the '98. Finishes with slightly dry tannins.

Producer Commentary:
This estate '98 is better than its '95, maintains technical director Philippe Blanc. The '96 may ultimately be better than the '98, he adds, "but certainly if we had done the vineyard work and careful harvesting in '96 that we did by '98 the '96 would have been clearly outstanding." Beychevelle brought in a fairly sizable 58 hectoliters per hectare in '99, compared to 49 the previous year. But grape sugars were higher, reaching 14% in the merlot, and saignee was used extensively.
2009 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Inky purple. Floral aromas of black plum and graphite. Easygoing and fine-grained, with a distinctly cool quality to the blackberry, floral and mint flavors. Pliant in the middle palate but with cedar, floral and herbal notes providing very good lift. Its light touch and suave mouth feel make Beychevelle easy to recognize in a blind tasting with its peers. This attractive wine shows sneaky depth of flavor and finishes with sweet, silky tannins and noteworthy energy. Just misses out on a bit more concentration for a higher score.

Producer Commentary:
2007 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Bright medium-deep red. Musky aromas of plum, currant and tobacco leaf. Juicy, sappy and rather stylish, combining pepper and herb qualities with a subtle touch of sweetness. Not a hugely concentrated wine but silky and insidious, finishing with suave, spreading tannins.

Producer Commentary:
2008 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 89.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Good full ruby. Initially dusty, herbal aromas of dark plum and flowers are nicely complicated by hints of soy sauce and Chinese spices. A juicy midweight with a fine-grained texture and a restrained sweetness to its blackcurrant and mineral flavors. Not a big wine but stylish, with very polished tannins and a long, graceful finish. Could use a little more concentration but this very nicely made, pure wine is immediately recognizable as Saint-Julien-and should turn out to be one of the best Beychevelles of the past ten years.

Producer Commentary:
1998 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Excellent deep ruby. Perfumed aromas of currant, licorice and mint. Lush and thick in the mouth, with enticing sweetness. Tannins are dusty but not aggressive.

Producer Commentary:
The estate dropped a good bit of crop through the growing season, said technical director Philippe Blanc, and the ultimate crop level was reduced by another 15% due to severe sunburn on August 8 and 9. Yields ultimately were in the 49 hectoliters-per-hectare range, and no saignee was done (however, Beychevelle has made use of vacuum evaporation since the early '90s). Blanc describes '98 as less ripe than '96, perhaps similar to '95 in quality. "But today we're doing more green harvesting and leaf-pulling," he noted, "and we're also doing a better job harvesting, picking block by block based on phenolic analysis."
2003 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (a blend of 53% cabernet sauvignon, 34% merlot, 8% cabernet franc and 5% petit verdot; 15% press wine was added, the highest percentage in years at Beychevelle) Medium-deep red. Musky aromas of currant, espresso, leather and exotic oak, with a note of currant leaf. Supple and silky, with flavors of red berries, tobacco and currant leaf, all lifted by a floral element. Slightly green but less vegetal than most recent vintages from this property. In fact, this is rather suave today, with no shortage of fat. Finishes with slightly dry but fine tannins.

Producer Commentary:
2010 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2023 - 2055

Tasting notes: The 2010 Beychevelle has a very intense bouquet packed full of black fruit laced with liquorice, tobacco and violet scents. Maybe it would benefit from a little more delineation? The palate is medium-bodied with lithe tannins and well judged acidity. The texture is grainy, especially towards the finish that shows impressive grip and depth. Like other Saint-Juliens, this will benefit from more time in the glass. Tasted from an ex-château bottle at the BI Wines & Spirits 10-Year On tasting. 

Producer Commentary:
2011 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 88.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Bright ruby-purple. Reticent aromas of fresh red fruits and violet. Then sweet and supple in the mouth, with blueberry pie, red berry and floral flavors lifted by a hint of spicy rhubarb at the back. The finish is long and smooth, with harmonious acidity providing lift. Not the last word in complexity but an easygoing, politely styled Saint-Julien.

Producer Commentary:
2009 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2020 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 2009 Beychevelle is well-knit and initially broody on the nose, although it opens nicely with blackberry, briary, tobacco and light mineral aromas, becoming almost pastille-like with continued aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, quite savory and meaty in style with brown spices and even a hint of curry leaf towards the fleshy and quite persistent finish. Very fine. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting. 

Producer Commentary:
2017 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 95.0

Drinking window: 2025 - 2047

Tasting notes: The 2017 Beychevelle is a luscious, extroverted beauty. An exotic mélange of super-ripe dark cherry, red plum, pomegranate, espresso, licorice and blood orange build as this potent, unctuous Saint-Julien opens up in the glass. The tannins need time to soften but should not be much of an issue in another few years' time. I very much like the push and pull of ripeness and energy in the 2017. In a word: memorable. Tasted two times.

Producer Commentary:
2014 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 94.0

Drinking window: 2020 - 2039

Tasting notes: The 2014 Beychevelle is dark, ample and yet also quite nuanced. Blue and purplish stone fruits, lavender, spice, menthol and licorice notes abound in this super-expressive Saint-Julien. There is lovely freshness and vivacity to the flavors, but this is a pretty intense, succulent style. Tasted two times.

Producer Commentary:
2016 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 96.0

Drinking window: 2023 - 2055

Tasting notes: The 2016 Beychevelle has a stunning bouquet of vibrant, shimmering blackberry and wild strawberry fruit laced with crushed stone and rose petals. The well-balanced palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin and a slightly savory/dried blood finish that lingers in the mouth. Tasting both in London and in Bordeaux, I found the latter bottle to have a little more precision and race on the finish. This will surely be a benchmark for this Saint Julien estate.

Producer Commentary:
1998 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 85.0

Drinking window: 2018 - 2034

Tasting notes: The 1998 Beychevelle has a thin brick rim that shows its 20 years of age. It has a mature but fresh bouquet with black fruit, cedar, cooked meat, clove and sage. I appreciate the complexity here and the terroir expression. The palate is fully mature with melted tannin that have just a little dryness. This feels quite savoury in the mouth, firm and masculine, missing the charm you find on the Right Bank, a little sourness popping up on the aftertaste. Tasted at the château.

Producer Commentary:
2011 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 89.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Vivid deep ruby. Perfumed notes of violet, orange peel and sweet spices complement blackcurrant and blackberry coulis on the enticing nose. Juicy, spicy and youthfully tight, showing a distinct peppery nuance and a hint of cocoa. This midweight appears to be shutting down in the bottle but shows very good depth for the year. A promising Beychevelle.

Producer Commentary:
2002 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 86.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Red-ruby. Cool aromas of tobacco leaf and peppery herbs. Supple but distinctly cool and green, lacking depth of flavor and texture. Shows some leathery rusticity on the end.

Producer Commentary:
Both the 2004 and 2003 vintages here weigh in at 12.9% alcohol, but 2004 brought higher acidity as well as a much larger crop (54 hectoliters per hectare of wine will be produced, compared to 34 in 2003). More extraction is now being done here at the beginning of the fermentation. But though I very much enjoyed the aromatic quality of the young 2004, the wine seems a bit lacking in flavor authority and grip compared to the best St. Juliens from this vintage.
2000 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Deep medium ruby. Riper, more perfumed aromas of red berries, chocolate and oak spices. Rich and spicy in the mouth, with redcurrant, chocolate and tobacco leaf flavors. Offers considerably more volume and sweetness than the 2001. In a fairly lush style, but has backbone. Tannins are slightly dry, though.

Producer Commentary:
Beychevelle harvested its cabernet during the first half of October. "We did not get rot, but we couldn't wait any longer to pick," noted technical director Philippe Blanc. Grape sugars were a bit lower than those of 2000, and a 15% saignee was carried out, even though the crop was smaller than that of the previous year. "The new vintage is smaller in all dimensions than the 2000," admitted Blanc.
2010 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 89.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (a blend of 54% cabernet sauvignon, 38% merlot, 5% cabernet franc and 3% petit verdot) Dark ruby-red with purple highlights. Floral a romas of red cherry, blackcurrant, licorice and tar. At once smooth, sweet and nicely delineated, with good lift to the delicate, lightly saline red berry, sassafrass and white pepper flavors. Finishes with sweet tannins and sneaky persistence. As usual, Beychevelle is not a blockbuster and left me wondering if it couldn't be just a bit more concentrated, but this 2010 seems to have more stuffing than usual. The high percentage of merlot gives it early appeal.

Producer Commentary:
1999 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 86.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Red-ruby. Currant, cedar, smoke, game and animal fur on the nose, along with an herbaceous coolness. On the lean side but not hard. Offers a touch of sweetness and comes across as softer than the young 2001, with lower acidity. Tannins are somewhat dry.

Producer Commentary:
Beychevelle harvested its cabernet during the first half of October. "We did not get rot, but we couldn't wait any longer to pick," noted technical director Philippe Blanc. Grape sugars were a bit lower than those of 2000, and a 15% saignee was carried out, even though the crop was smaller than that of the previous year. "The new vintage is smaller in all dimensions than the 2000," admitted Blanc.
2013 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 88.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Deep ruby-violet. Explosive, pure blackberry, boysenberry and black cherry scents show no musty or green notes--something that is not altogether rare in many less-successful 2013 Bordeaux. Broad, deep and velvety for the year, with seamless dark berry and graphite flavors given gentle support by soft, ripe tannins. The persistent finish features smooth tannins and a lingering echo of boysenberry. A fairly sexy rather than refined Beychevelle.

Producer Commentary:
2005 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (47% cabernet sauvignon, 46% merlot, 4% petit verdot and 3% cabernet franc) Excellent medium ruby. Plum, currant, licorice, dark chocolate and mint on the vinous nose. Not a particularly fleshy St. Julien but juicy and aromatic in the mouth, thanks to ripe, nicely integrated acidity. This has lovely floral lift in the middle palate and on the firm-edged, persistent finish, which features notes of black cherry and mint.

Producer Commentary:
Beychevelle harvested fruit in 2005 with the highest sugars ever recorded here, according to technical director Philippe Blanc, thanks in large part to the relatively low yield of 42 hectoliters per hectare. The merlot reached 15% potential alcohol, with the average around 14.2%. "This was the first time we made the wine with no chaptalization and no use of the concentrator," said Blanc. Still, Blanc was happy to have cabernet at 12.4% to add balance to the wine. The blend, which represents a 70% selection, weighs in at 13.4%. Blanc, incidentally, ranks 2005 as one of the best recent vintages, with '00 and '96. But he believes the new wine is more elegant than the 2000.
1949 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 96.0

Drinking window: 2019 - 2035

Tasting notes: The 1949 Beychevelle remains my benchmark wine from the estate, and is one of the finest Saint-Juliens that I have tasted in this vintage. It shows considerable fading in color, but the bouquet is exquisite: the quintessential old-school claret, with leather, graphite and earthenware scents billowing from the glass. The medium-bodied palate displays wonderful balance and poise, built around filigreed tannins and a natural, utterly refined finish. It will not improve with bottle age, but if you find a bottle as good as this, then you are in for a treat. 

Producer Commentary:
2018 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2021 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 2018 Beychevelle has the highest level of alcohol at the estate at 14.5% according to winemaker Philippe Blanc. It has an attractive bouquet with liquorice tinged black fruit that gains intensity in the glass whilst maintaining admirable definition. The palate is smooth in texture, moderate depth, a little softer than anticipated with black fruit mixed with (again) liquorice, mint and white pepper. It is certainly a flamboyant Beychevelle, but in my opinion that comes at the expense of a little typicité. It remains a thoroughly pleasurable Beychevelle, although I prefer the more complex 2016 at this stage. Tasted twice with consistent notes. 

Producer Commentary:
2013 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 79.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2013 Beychevelle is marred by volatile aromatics and rough tannins, both of which overpower the little fruit that is present today. Dark cherry, plum, smoke and licorice flavors show very modest depth. Perhaps my sample was not representative.

Producer Commentary:
2015 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Understated and nuanced, the 2015 Beychevelle is a wine of lovely finesse. Graphite, smoke, plum, violet and lavender are some of the many notes that are found in this delicate, super-expressive Saint-Julien, while floral notes add lift. The finessed side of Saint-Julien comes through nicely here. In 2015, yields were around 47 hectoliters per hectare. The blend is 47% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot. New oak is around 50%. Tasted two times.

Producer Commentary:
2019 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2019 Beychevelle is a rich, unctuous wine. Blackberry jam, cloves, licorice, bittersweet chocolate and torrefaction infuse the 2019 with tons of darkness that works well with the wine's flamboyant personality. Beychevelle will appeal most to readers who enjoy exotic, super-ripe wines. In 2019, Beychevelle pushes the limits, in my view. 

Producer Commentary:
2000 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Good ruby-red. Exotic, highly aromatic nose features leather, cedar, roast coffee, minerals and chocolate. Smooth on entry, then a bit pinched in the mid-palate, with a faint peppery herbaceousness. Not overly tannic but seems a bit dry for a 2000.

Producer Commentary:
1990 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 84.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Medium color. Slightly musty, herbaceous, smoky nose. Seems pinched on the palate, and lacking in sweetness and fat. Reasonably well-structured but light. The finish betrays high yields and only modest ripeness. 

Producer Commentary:
2010 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 91.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Good deep red. Lively aromas of cassis, black cherry, licorice and flowers. Gripping and energetic, with captivating flowers and spices lifting the medicinal dark berry, licorice and mineral flavors. More intense than usual for this property: the tannins are serious but suave and this very youthful wine appears to have the density of material for two or three decades of evolution in bottle. It may well ultimately merit a higher score.

Producer Commentary:
2008 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 90.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Red-ruby. Perfumed aromas of redcurrant, licorice, chocolate, flowers and baking spices. Classic taut claret, showing insidious intensity without weight. Juicy, nicely delineated flavors of redcurrant, black cherry, pepper and herbs. Finishes vibrant and persistent, with ripe, dusty tannins and a lingering note of redcurrant.

Producer Commentary:
2001 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 85.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: (on its finings) Medium red. Raw currant, cedar, coconut and a lightly peppery herbaceousness on the nose. Juicy and moderately sweet, but offering only modest texture and concentration. In a softer style, and rather oaky today.

Producer Commentary:
2014 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2020 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 2014 Beychevelle has an intense bouquet with macerated small black cherries, bilberry, brine and light oyster shell aromas that just feel a little ostentatious within the context of the growing season. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannin, quite elegant in style, the acidity well judged with a crisp, silky smooth mixture of black and blue fruit to the finish. It leans slightly to the more modern style of winemaking but it is very well pulled off and it has the matière to suggest long-term ageing. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

Producer Commentary:
2016 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2022 - 2036

Tasting notes: The 2016 Beychevelle offers quite a bit of up-front intensity and immediacy. Fruity, supple and forward, the 2016 holds quite a bit of appeal, although it is not as persistent or complex as I had hoped it would be, especially given how exceptional so many Saint-Juliens are in 2016. Tasted two times.

Producer Commentary:
2002 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 87.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Medium red. Penetrating raw currant, blueberry and licorice aromas. A juicy, pure, tightly wound midweight with moderate ripeness, plenty of verve and very good flavor definition. Floral, rather understated wine with a subtle, slightly drying finish. Not at all overdone, but could use a bit more thrust.

Producer Commentary:
1929 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 2019 - 2024

Tasting notes: The 1929 Beychevelle is not a contender for one of the best wines of the vintage. A little paler than other 1929 Saint-Juliens that I have tasted, it has a loose-knit, slightly fatigued bouquet of clove and singed leather aromas, and a hint of cola that I have observed on previous bottles. The palate is medium-bodied with a Burgundy-like texture and a simple, rather predictable finish that never builds or fans out. Adequate for the vintage. Tasted at the château. 

Producer Commentary:
1982 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 89.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Full medium ruby. Highly perfumed aromas of sour cherry candy, currant syrup, violet and minerals. Thick and rich, but a bit unyielding owing to its solid spine of acidity. Still rather youthfully austere on the finish.

Producer Commentary:
1989 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 2019 - 2025

Tasting notes: The 1989 Beychevelle repeats its performance from a blind tasting in London earlier in 2018. It has an old-school bouquet of dusky black fruit, morels and that light seawater note. The palate is medium-bodied with quite sharp tannin and rustic in style, featuring leathery red fruit and iron ore, though as I noted before, it has faded in recent years and I cannot see much benefit in cellaring this longer. Tasted from an ex-cellar bottle at the château. 

Producer Commentary:
2009 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 93.0

Drinking window: 2020 - 2040

Tasting notes: The 2009 Beychevelle has an intriguing bouquet with kirsch, orange blossom, mocha and earthy aromas, taking time to settle down in the glass but eventually achieving fine delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, well judged acidity, clean and correct, but maybe missing the flair that I have found on later vintages such as 2015 and 2016. It is a very fine Beychevelle but not profound. Tasted at BI Wines & Spirits Ten Year On tasting. 

Producer Commentary:
1998 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 87.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Dark red. Dusty aromas of cherry, leather, cedar and currant leaf. A rather stylish, slim wine with modest sweetness but good flavor intensity and backbone. Tannins are firm but not dry, and there sneaky finishing flavor. Not currently showing the personality it displayed from barrel, but this may simply be a bit pinched following the bottling.

Producer Commentary:
In addition to the high-quality cabernet, the 2000 harvest here featured very ripe merlot and petit verdot, said maitre de chai Lucien Soussotte. In comparison, in the previous vintage the estate had to interrupt its merlot harvest to pick the petit verdot, which was beginning to rot. Beginning in 2001, Beychevelle will allow some of its best lots to go through malolactic fermentation in barrel.
2000 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 88.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Ruby-red. Cassis, violet, licorice and a hint of smoked meat on the nose; ripe but not especially vibrant. Sweet and supple, with moderate density and depth of flavor. A rather chunky style. Finishes with fairly tough tannins. Seems a bit dominated by its structure today, but there good material here.

Producer Commentary:
In addition to the high-quality cabernet, the 2000 harvest here featured very ripe merlot and petit verdot, said maitre de chai Lucien Soussotte. In comparison, in the previous vintage the estate had to interrupt its merlot harvest to pick the petit verdot, which was beginning to rot. Beginning in 2001, Beychevelle will allow some of its best lots to go through malolactic fermentation in barrel.
2006 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 89.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Bright, deep red. Musky currant, licorice, tobacco, cedar and herbs on the nose and palate. Juicy and on the lean side but with very good focus and cut to its flavors. Characterized more by its vinosity and elegance than by body or power. The moderately long finish features firm tannins that avoid coming off as hard.

Producer Commentary:
2003 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 87.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Red-ruby. Aromas of redcurrant, coffee, mocha, smoke and tobacco. Supple, fat and soft, with rather easygoing currant, cedar and mineral flavors. Finishes with dusty, building, slightly drying tannins.

Producer Commentary:
Both the 2004 and 2003 vintages here weigh in at 12.9% alcohol, but 2004 brought higher acidity as well as a much larger crop (54 hectoliters per hectare of wine will be produced, compared to 34 in 2003). More extraction is now being done here at the beginning of the fermentation. But though I very much enjoyed the aromatic quality of the young 2004, the wine seems a bit lacking in flavor authority and grip compared to the best St. Juliens from this vintage.
2008 Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 92.0

Drinking window: 2020 - 2045

Tasting notes: The 2008 Beychevelle has a lifted, graphite and tertiary scented bouquet, gaining intensity with aeration, a subtle mulch-like aroma tucked beneath the black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, blackberry and bilberry fruit laced with cedar. It feels quite solid towards the back end with an insistent grip. As such, it is not a refined Beychevelle, but it is structured and a candidate for long-term ageing. (Tasted at BI Wine & Spirit’s annual 10-Year On tasting.)

Producer Commentary:
There was no easing into the job and frankly I would not want it any other way on my first day. Wines tasted in the morning at an annual ten-year on Bordeaux tasting on one side of the Atlantic, written up on the flight over to New York with my mouth still coated in tannin and completed on the other side of the Atlantic...just a day in the life, so that readers get an idea how things are going to roll with the 2008 Bordeaux.
1995 Saint Julien
Color: Red

Score: 86.5

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: Good deep ruby-red. Distinctive, oak-dominated aromas of crushed blackberry, cedar, tar and meat; distinctly Rioja-like. Then dry, penetrating and uncompromising, with strong berry flavor and somewhat tart-edged acidity. A rather skinny St. Julien that may put on weight in bottle. Finishes with dusty tannins and very good length. Seems far crisper than an early sample tasted from barrel.

Producer Commentary:
2015 Admiral De Beychevelle
Color: Red

Score: 87.0

Drinking window: 0 - 0

Tasting notes: The 2015 Admiral de Beychevelle has a rather non-descript bouquet that lacks the energy of its peers. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannin, slightly harsh and bitter in the mouth with a short finish. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting. 

Producer Commentary:

Cookie Notice