Bordeaux profile: Beychevelle

Château Beychevelle vertical tasting

The vertical tasting took place at the property on the 21 February 2020. All of the wines presented were provided by the property itself. The wines were tasted in reverse order, the youngest first, and in small overlapping flights of three consecutive vintages at a time. The tasting comprised three consecutive vintages of Les Brulières de Beychevelle (2018-2016), four consecutive vintage of l’Amiral de Beychevelle (2018-2015) and 9 consecutive vintages of Beychevelle (2018-2009). I am immensely grateful to Philippe Blanc, Romain Ducolomb and the entire Beychevelle team for their welcome, their hospitality and their kindness.  

Beychevelle 2018 (41% Cabernet Sauvignon; 50% Merlot; 3% Cabernet France; 6% Petit Verdot). Still in barrel; two months before bottling. I loved this en primeur and I love it again now. This could well be Beychevelle’s best ever wine – which is some achievement given the challenges of this vintage and the sheer quality of the 2016 (the other obvious candidate for ‘best ever’). Instantly recognisable as St Julien and, indeed, as Beychevelle. At first brambles, plum skins and cherries. But it is the black cherry fruit that I keep coming back to (a strong signature of the 2000). The tannins, as ever, are wondrously gentle. Yet there is a very vibrant sense of rippling fresh fruit on the palate too. Loads of energy. Hints of the cedar to come and a little touch of very dark chocolate. Really glorious, with velvet texture, excellent intensity and delineation in the mid-palate and a silky richness. This is tense and lithe and it finishes, like many of the best 2018s, with the taste and sensation of grape-skin in the mouth. Remarkably approachable and very appealing.

Beychevelle 2017 (50% Cabernet Sauvignon; 45% Merlot; 1% Cabernet Franc; 4% Petit Verdot). Though it has put on considerable weight since en primeur and is now more dense and concentrated on the mid-palate, it seems almost slender and delicate alongside the more obviously rich 2016 and 2018. There is a pleasing natural sweetness on the nose and notes of walnuts, indicating ripe pip tannins. The fruit is wonderfully croquant (crunchy) – such a signature of the vintage.  And there is cool, almost menthol, freshness.  That plunge-pool depth of Beychevelle’s refined and chiselled tannins.  But so svelte that the depth is almost imperceptible – deceptively delicate.  Like the 2018, this is almost approachable now.  A lovely evolution on the palate, revealing subtle hints of cedar and releasing little explosions of fresh red and blackcurrant fruit.  Really delicious and possibly the most distinctive wine of the flight.

Beychevelle 2016 (47% Cabernet Sauvignon; 47% Merlot; 1% Cabernet Franc; 5% Petit Verdot).  Very elegant and stylish classicism.  Plush with considerable mid-palate concentration and lovely definition. Fresher than the 2015. The fruit profile is more classic than the two more recent vintages – blackberries and cassis. The quality of the tannins is extraordinary and the resulting textural finesse quite remarkable. This is a wine, I suspect, that could not have been made in the old wine-making facility. There is a touch of salinity and an almost iron minerality, though this is yet more present on the 2015. So deep and rich and plush and elegant. Maybe less fun and energetic than the 2018 but more classic and so very well made. Very long. Great precision, length and tension. Is it better than the 2018?  A very tough call. I suspect it will remain great for longer.

Beychevelle 2015 (42% Cabernet Sauvignon; 47% Merlot; 7% Cabernet Franc; 4% Petit Verdot). A great wine and, prior to the 2016, undoubtedly one of the best ever vintages of Beychevelle. It is stylistically similar, but doesn’t have quite the same energy, delineation or tension. But it is more open-knit, more ready and has impressive complexity already. The tannins are a little less refined and more grippy, though still extraordinarily svelte and silky for the appellation in this vintage – they just need more time to soften and there is nothing wrong with that. A tad less mid-palate concentration than the 2016. Gloriously creamy notes of cassis and fruits of the forest with a touch of pepper and the same saline minerality that one finds in the 2016. Pure, focused and precise.  A vin de garde with considerable ageing potential.

Beychevelle 2014 (39% Cabernet Sauvignon; 51% Merlot; 5% Cabernet Franc; 5% Petit Verdot). Perhaps something of a surprise package and, for me, one of the wines of the tasting. There are subtle similarities with both the 2018 and 2017. Fantastically seductive on the nose already – with decadent notes of black cherries and walnuts. There is a lovely hint of cedar and, on the palate, gorgeous blackcurrant and cassis fruit. A slight dryness on the finish, but this is most impressive – richer, bigger and yet fresher than expected and with an attractive slightly smoky natural sweetness.

Beychevelle 2013 (55% Cabernet Sauvignon; 36% Merlot; 9% Petit Verdot). No Cabernet Franc; yields of only 28hl/ha and a total production of only 6000 cases or so. The peppery nose immediate hints at the unusually high proportion of Petit Verdot in the final blend. This is distinct and unusual for Beychevelle, though the signature of the terroir remains strong.  All the same, this is an unrepresentative vintage and something of an outlier in the tasting.  But among Médoc classed growths in 2013 it is very impressive. There is a lovely limpidity in the glass. The wine is light, a touch sweet and nutty but still very much of its place. It is sleek and slender but well-formed and with the signature softness of Beychevelle. No great depth or length but remarkable in the context of the vintage.

Beychevelle 2012 (47% Cabernet Sauvignon; 44% Merlot: 4% Cabernet Franc; 5% Petit Verdot). Classic, restrained, quiet, easy, soft and gentle. This certainly doesn’t have the depth or richness of more recent vintages, but it is very attractive nonetheless.  Characterised by a lovely freshness, this is pure, precise and focused. The tannins are perhaps just a little harsh at the end, but there is impressive length here and I love the long cedar finale. The end of the harvest was difficult and Beychevelle in 2012 undoubtedly benefits from its relatively early-ripening vineyard and a very strict selection. A wine that exceeds one’s expectations. Chapeau to Romain Ducolomb in his first vintage.

Beychevelle 2011 (47% Cabernet Sauvignon; 47% Merlot; 4% Cabernet Franc; 2% Petit Verdot). That seductive Beychevelle nose again but more noticeably oaky. Somewhat lean and etiolated but impressively gentle on the attack and front palate for the vintage, though the slightly dry tannins finish with a little harshness. Sappy, with hints of mint. This is rather more evolved on the nose and, in comparison with more recent vintages, lacks a little mid-palate focus, punch and elegance. Not for me a vintage that particularly flatters Beychevelle’s style.

Beychevelle 2010 (54% Cabernet Sauvignon; 38% Merlot; 5% Cabernet Franc; 3% Petit Verdot). A great wine in a great vintage, but quite closed and self-contained for now – not revealing much of its full potential. Its impressive depth and richness is masked a little by that gloriously Beychevelle svelte texture. A little less energetic than more recent top vintages, but very composed, a little restrained and very classic. Cool, sombre and somewhat introvert; more like the 2016 than the 2015. Fresh and with an ultra-long and lifted finish. Great potential. Dark, plummy and peppery but not yet revealing all of its complexity. Better than the 2009, just as the 2016 is better than the 2015; but the 2009 is much more ready to drink.

Beychevelle 2009 (46% Cabernet Sauvignon; 44% Merlot; 6% Cabernet Franc; 4% Petit Verdot). Limpid in the glass with an almost radiant garnet hue. On the nose, quite saline and exotic – hoi-sin, Chinese five spice, plums, damsons, roasted walnuts too. This is extrovert where the 2010 is more tight and held back. Very svelte but that masks a little a slightly undelineated mid-palate. Pixilated and quite marked acidity on the finish. Not as long as recent vintages and, though powerful, lacks some of the mid-palate concentration of the 2010, 2015 and 2016.

Older Vintages tastes (all decanted in advance)

Beychevelle 2005. Full, rich, plummy and drinking beautifully. Sweet-tinged. Damsons and cedar notes. Great mid-palate intensity. Long, caressing finish with impressive energy and freshness too. Plenty of energy and a nice tension throughout.

Beychevelle 2000. Lush and ultra seductive. A glorious classic Médocain nose of pencil-shavings, truffles, cedar, black cherries and cassis – with a little puff of cigar smoke too. The most beautiful wine in the tasting for me, though neither the richest nor the most powerful. Very much of the vintage – indeed, this has as much vintage-specificity as it does terroir-specificity. And the characteristics of 2000 just flatter Beychevelle’s natural charm and style so much. Really wonderful. Utterly elegant; utterly enjoyable.

Beychevelle 1999. More delicate, but ripe and characteristically gentle. Full and plush though without great mid-palate density. No hint of drying tannins. Needs to be drunk relatively soon, but excellent in the context of the vintage. Accomplished and something of a revelation.

Beychevelle 1995. The most floral of these wines on the nose – almost more Margaux than St Julien. Cedar too. Soft, gentle, refined claret. Sous bois and the dry leaves of the autumn forest floor with hints of truffle. Philippe Blanc’s first vintage drunk on Romain Ducolomb’s 40^th birthday. A fantastic culmination to a great tasting.

Wines of the tasting:  Beychevelle 2018, 2016, 2010, 2000

Other highlights:  Beychevelle 2017, 2014, 2012, 2005, 1995

Exceeding expectations: Brane-Cantenac 2013, 2012, 1999

Colin Hay is Professor of Political Science at Sciences Po in Paris where he works on the political economy of Europe, La Place de Bordeaux and wine markets more generally.

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