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

Bettane & Desseauve

About the estate:

Juliette Bécot now successfully perpetuates the rich, indulgent, intense, and flavorful character of this top-of-the-line product in excellent condition.

Decanter

About wine:

Rich, full-bodied, and heady on the nose. On the palate, there are ripe blackcurrants, red cherries, raspberries, and strawberries, as well as mint, black pepper, and truffle. The precision and density are excellent, with an appealing touch of dark chocolate. It is well-controlled, with a sense of classicism. A powerful, muscular and confident wine, but with suppleness - this wine has density but also grace with a refreshing finish including licorice, mint and a gentle salinity. A great wine. 2025-2047

Guide Hachette des vins

About wine:

Dense, structured, and deep, this grand cru with a fine pedigree is only at the beginning of its journey and currently reveals only a fraction of its potential. However, the ripe fruit, rich and powerful tannins, and freshness of the limestone already create a real harmony. Great potential to be expected.

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

About the estate:

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

About the estate:

Beautifully located in the central-western part of the Saint-Emilion limestone plateau, the vineyard is masterfully managed by brothers Dominique and Gérard Bécot, who produce an expressive wine with integrity and density. Gérard Bécot officially retired on January 2, 2014. Overall management has been entrusted to his son-in-law, Julien Barthe, husband of Juliette Bécot, who continues to oversee the winemaking process. 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 purchased Château Haut-Pourret, 2.5 hectares on the south coast, which will be vinified in the La Gomerie cellar under the Le Bécot de Beau-Séjour label. Winemaking methods are evolving, aiming for an elegant approach to the fruit, seeking to give volume to the firmness and length of wines produced from limestone. Maintaining its rank as a premier grand cru classé in 2012, the château obtained authorization to integrate the La Gomerie plot into its cadastre.

Vinous

About wine:

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

Terre de Vins

About 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 clear rise in quality over the last two years, the shift is convincing. The wine displays the bright fruit and fresh, invigorating aromatics that have become typical of the estate, but with added density, depth, and substance, all carried by a limestone vibration that marks the identity of the place. The crispness gives way to juiciness, with beautifully refined tannins. Remarkable!

Yves Beck

About wine:

There was a time when BSB (it's shorter to write) sounded the reveille from the very first seconds... well, those days are gone. Now it has a little bell that opens the door! Note that you only need to open it slightly, as the wine makes its way through with a subtlety rarely seen. The 2020 stands out for its freshness, its slender, airy, precise and vigorous character. What a notion of energy, quiet strength and ability to move forward, with a perfect view of the horizon. The wine knows exactly where it wants to go, into our throats, but first it will have to spend some time in the cellar. This should not prevent you from tasting it as soon as it is delivered. A wine is to be tasted, observed, followed, and then savored. You just need to have enough of it. I would like to conclude by emphasizing a point that is important to me: styles evolve, and there have been notable changes at Beau-Séjour Bécot. The aim is to be even closer to the terroir and the rock, and to follow the wine in its own expression. These changes are evolutionary and do not call into question what has been done before, because let's not forget that we can only be here if someone was here before us! So the past is also the future. 2026-2045

Vert de Vin

About wine:

The nose is elegant, refined and powerful (yet delicate), with lovely finesse, freshness, depth, an airy quality, complexity, intensity (yet refined) and a lovely, very fine, racy texture. There are notes of bright wild blackcurrant, morello cherry and, more subtly, bright little black berries combined with hints of violet, blueberry, crushed strawberry, and subtle hints of crushed redcurrant, cardamom, star anise, and subtle hints of dried spices, with a very discreet, almost smoky hint and an imperceptible hint of pepper (in the background). The palate is fruity, balanced, beautifully racy and offers juiciness, freshness, lovely definition, deliciousness, a tangy structure, finesse and roundness, tension, finesse and depth, minerality, lovely finesse of grain, an airy side to the balance, a very nice pulpy/tangy fruitiness, sweetness, and a beautiful finesse in its richness. On the palate, this wine expresses notes of pulpy/juicy blackcurrant, juicy/fresh morello cherryfresh and slightly more vibrant redcurrants combined with hints of camphor, small juicy/tart black berries, black tea, blueberry, juicy blueberry, as well as subtle hints of dark chocolate, a discreet hint of caramelization, and toasted hazelnut. The tannins are precise, elegant, fresh, and delicately creamy. There is a subtle hint of cocoa bitterness on the finish/persistence. Good length and a very nice aromatic (and sapid) persistence. A precise wine that is all finesse and delicacy in its power.

The Wine Cellar Insider - Jeff Leve

About wine:

Beau-Séjour Bécot is riding high, and the 2020 vintage is proof of that. The bouquet opens with a profusion of flowers before reaching 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, and spicy 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, with less volume but more intensity and purity in the fruit. With the new cellars soon to come into service, Beau-Séjour Bécot will reach a new level of quality! Drink between 2025 and 2055.

Anthocyanes - Yohan Castaing

About wine:

Once again, this wine impresses with its burst of black fruit, delicately spiced notes, minty freshness, and undeniable floral base (violet, lilac, and iris). On the palate, everything comes together smoothly with a juicy, fleshy texture supported by limestone acidity and incredibly precise tannins. It is emotional because it is so precise, crystalline, and dense at the same time. Exceptional tannic structure. An aesthetic peak. The Beau-Séjour Bécot that is closest to its terroir and the most racy. Bravo! Aging potential: for your grandchildren! Magnificent value for money for the lucky recipients!