critic reviews
A blend of 78% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2000 Beausejour Duffau-Lagarrosse is pale to medium garnet-brick in color. It features fragrant notes of sandalwood, cigar box, and potpourri, giving way to a core of dried cherries, prunes, and Chinese five spice. The medium-bodied palate is so, so elegant and graceful, delivering exotic spices and dried flower sparkles, with dried cranberries in the background and a powdery texture, finishing with a refreshing mineral lift.
This would have been made with shorter extraction times than today, with traditionally hands-off winemaking techniques, and very little new oak. You can see it in the pale rose-ruby colour, almost translucent around the rim of the glass but with vibrant reflections, and delicate floral aromatics. On the palate, the crushed rocks, redcherry and liquorice of the dominant Merlot grape on limestone soils come through, along with leather and truffle. Very much in its drinking window, plenty of beauty here, with enough salinity on the finish to make things not only mouthwatering but moreish. The grandparents of Josephine Duffau Lagarrosse, the current owner whose family has been in place since 1847, made this wine. Served out of magnum.
The 2000 Beauséjour Duffau-Lagarrosse was tasted from two bottles directly from the cellar. The first was oddly vegetal, but the second chimed with previous encounters. Sensual red cherries, raspberry preserve, rose petal and hints of black truffle feature on the nose. The palate is medium-bodied with mint-tinged red berry fruit, displaying fine depth and focus and fanning out gently on the white pepper and orange peel finish. This is worth seeking out.
I often lament the fact that only the 1990 and 2009 are wines that fully showcase this extraordinary terroir. However, the 2000 is no Ugly Betty, so to speak. It showed extremely well in the tastings, with the tell-tale notes of flowers, crushed rock, blueberry and camphor well-displayed. Full-bodied, rich, long, and just beginning to shed its cloak of tannin, this is quite an impressively endowed Beausejour-Duffau that can be drunk in 1-2 years or cellared for another 25 or more.