Château Beau-Séjour Bécot Saint-Emilion 2020 - 1er Grand Cru Classé B

Bettane & Desseauve

About the domain :

Juliette Bécot now successfully perpetuates the rich, gourmet, intense and tasty dimension of this first-in-class in top form.

Decanter

About the wine:

Rich, full-bodied, heady nose. On the palate, there's ripe blackcurrant, red cherry, raspberry and strawberry, as well as mint, black pepper and truffle. Precision and density are excellent, with a seductive touch of dark chocolate. Well mastered, with a sense of classicism. Powerful, muscular and self-assured, but with suppleness - this wine has density but also grace with a refreshing finish including licorice, mint and sweet salinity. A great wine. 2025-2047

Guide Hachette des vins

About the wine:

Dense, well-structured and deep, this Grand Cru with its fine pedigree is only at the beginning of its journey, and is only now revealing one facet of its potential. Already, however, the ripe fruit, rich, powerful tannins and fresh limestone create real harmony. Great potential ahead.

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

About the domain :

RVF - La Revue du Vin de France / Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France

About the domain :

Magnificently situated in the central-western part of the Saint-Emilion limestone plateau, the vineyard is masterfully run by the Bécot brothers, Dominique and Gérard, who produce an expressive wine, possessing uprightness and density. Gérard Bécot officially retired on January 2, 2014. General management has been entrusted to his son-in-law, Julien Barthe, husband of Juliette Bécot, who continues to oversee the vinifications. Dominique Bécot, Gérard's brother, remains at the head of the vineyard. His children Pierre and Caroline also work on the estate. In January 2014, Beauséjour bought Château Haut-Pourret, 2.5 ha on the south coast, which will be vinified in the La Gomerie winery, under the Le Bécot de Beau-Séjour label. Vinification methods are evolving, aiming for an elegant approach to fruit, and seeking to give volume to the firmness and length of wines made from limestone. Maintaining its rank of premier grand cru classé in 2012, the château has obtained permission to include the La Gomerie parcel in its land register.

Vinous

About the wine:

Beau-Séjour Bécot 2020 is a dense, powerful wine. A rush of black cherry, plum, chocolate, new leather, licorice, spice and sweet oak develops as this imposing, vertically explosive Saint-Emilion opens up in the glass. This is a particularly broad and expansive Saint-Emilion, which is largely attributable to the clay of these soils. The 2020 is magnificent in its intensity and overall volume. A superb wine. 2028-2050

Terre de Vins

About the wine:

Over the last few vintages, the Beau-Séjour Bécot team has openly questioned itself in order to extract the very essence of its beautiful terroir, the heart of which is planted on the Saint-Émilion plateau. After the obvious rise in power of the last two years, the changeover is convincing. The bright fruit and fresh, invigorating aromatics that are now typical of the estate are back, but with added density, depth and body, all carried by the limestone vibrancy that is the hallmark of the place. Crispness gives way to juiciness, with excellent work on the finesse of the tannins. Remarkable!

Yves Beck

About the wine:

There was a time when BSB (it's shorter to write) rang the diane from the very first seconds... well, those days are gone. Now it has a little bell to open the door! Note that you just have to open it a crack, as the wine makes its way through with a subtlety rarely seen. The 2020 stands out for its freshness, slenderness, airiness, precision and vigor. What energy, what quiet strength, what ability to move forward, with a perfect vision of the horizon. The wine knows exactly where it wants to go, into our gullets, but first it has to spend some time in the cellar. But don't let that stop you from tasting it as soon as it's delivered. Wine is to be tasted, observed, followed and then savored. You just have to have enough of it. I'd like to finish by stressing a point that's important to me: styles evolve, and there have been some notable changes at Beau-Séjour Bécot. Their aim is to be even closer to the terroir, the rock, and to follow the wine as it expresses itself. These changes are evolutionary and do not call into question what has gone before, because let's not forget that you can only be there, if there was someone there before! So before is also tomorrow. 2026-2045

Vert de Vin

About the wine:

The nose is elegant and fine, offering power (with delicacy), lovely finesse, freshness, depth, airiness, complexity, intensity (with finesse) and a fine, racy texture. There are notes of bright wild blackcurrant, morello cherry and, more lightly, small, bright black berries, combined with hints of violet, blueberry, crushed strawberry, crushed redcurrant, cardamom, star anise and subtle hints of docues, a very discreet, almost smoky hint and an imperceptible hint of pepper (in the background). The palate is fruity, well-balanced and beautifully racy, offering juiciness, freshness, fine definition, gourmandise, an acidic structure, roundness with finesse, tension, depth with finesse, minerality, fine grain, airy balance, a lovely pulpiness/acidity of the fruit, suavity and fine richness. On the palate, this wine expresses notes of pulpy/juicy blackcurrant, juicy/fresh Morello cherry and, more lightly, bright redcurrant, combined with hints of camphor, juicy/acidic black berries, black tea, blueberry, juicy blueberry, as well as fine hints of dark chocolate, a discreet touch of caramelization and toasted hazelnut. The tannins are precise, elegant, fresh and finely creamy. Discreet hint of cocoa bitterness on the finish/persistence. Good length and lovely aromatic (and sapid) persistence. A precise wine that is all finesse and delicacy in its power.

The Wine Cellar Insider - Jeff Leve

About the wine:

Beau-Séjour Bécot has the wind in its sails, and the 2020 vintage is proof. The bouquet opens with a profusion of flowers before moving on to red, black and blue fruits, thyme, spice box, espresso beans, cocoa and licorice. The palate is even better, with its multiple layers of crushed stone, sensual fruit, velvety tannins and long, expansive, lifted finish, with a hint of salt on the finish. As I wrote after tasting a barrel sample, this is a new level of quality at Beau-Séjour Bécot that embraces less volume, but more intensity and purity of fruit. With the new cellars soon to come on stream, Beau-Séjour Bécot will reach a new level of quality! Drink between 2025 and 2055.

Anthocyanes - Yohan Castaing

About the wine:

Once again, this estate impresses with its burst of black fruit, delicate spice notes, minty freshness and floral base (violet, lilac and iris) that never fails. On the palate, everything is done smoothly, with a juicy, fleshy texture underpinned by chalky acidity and incredibly precise tannins. It's emotional, so precise, crystalline and dense at the same time. Exceptional tannic structure. An aesthetic peak. Beau-Séjour Bécot, the closest to its terroir and the most racy. Bravo! Ageing potential: for grandchildren! Magnificent value for money for the lucky recipients!