Château Beychevelle, 4ème Cru Classé, St Julien, 2009
We liked Beychevelle 2009 so much we tasted it three times. There is an unusually high percentage of Merlot at Beychevelle. Most neighbours are producing wines with 70% plus Cabernet Sauvignon, but the management are philosophical and accept that this can't be changed over-night. Efforts are being made to grub up Merlot parcels in plots more suited to Cabernet, but this process takes time. In the meantime, they do the best with what they have, and the results are sensational. The 2009, like all the vintages from this decade is beautifully poised, gently extracted, elegant and unforced. Notes of damsons, herbs, cut violets, crème de cassis, graphite and cooked meats. The attack is pure and laced with soft ripe fruit, hints of chocolate and liqueur fruits. This is very pretty, with wonderful vitality, stunning texture; and beautifully constructed with graceful, velvety tannins.
critic reviews
Revisited at about fifteen years of age, there is some early maturity to the hue here. In keeping with this there is good evolution, with toasted spices, leather, dried cherry and dark chocolate, not to mention a little emerging black tea leaf and black truffle. It has a ripe and charming warmth, one followed by a beautifully cool presence on the palate, with coolly polished dark fruits, as well as a backbone of surprisingly firm and unsurprisingly ripe tannin, which adds a grippy structure to it all. Long and polished, there is still some resolution to do in the structure here. Like many wines of the 2009 vintage though, it would benefit from a modestly cooler pouring temperature to focus the structure. Drink or hold.
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.
A blend of 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Petit Verdot, the 2009 Beychevelle is deep garnet-brick in color. A little closed and broody to begin, it soon opens out to notes of tar, warm cassis, stewed blackberries, and licorice, plus touches of wood smoke and candied violets. The medium-bodied palate is chock full of licorice-laced black fruits with firm, ripe, grainy tannins and well-knit freshness, finishing with great length. It seems to be maturing more slowly than the 2010.