Château Beychevelle, 4ème Cru Classé, St Julien, 2023
The dream team of Philippe Blanc, Erwan Le Brozec and Romain Ducolomb is doing a wonderful job at Beychevelle. 2023 is yet another excellent Beychevelle boasting a seductive bouquet of loganberry, cassis, lilac and graphite. On the palate there is plenty of plump, ripe fruit, suggestions of Chambord as well as some sultry dark fruits. There's a modernity to the fruit - this is textural and seductive, wrapped in super-refined and silky tannins, laced with lots of fine detail. Another excellent Beychevelle produced from 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot.
critic reviews
Rich damson colour, great texture, some reductive flinty notes. A pretty serious wine, good quality, capsicum, black tea, cigar, liquorice, cassis. Seriously enjoyable.
The 2023 Beychevelle was bottled in June 2025. "It underwent a strict selection, so this Grand Vin represents 53% of the total crop," winemaker Philippe Blanc told me. Allowing this five minutes to open in the glass, it has a refined bouquet, a mixture of red and black fruit, cedar and a sprig of wild mint. Clean and precise, it gains intensity yet always conveys a sense of control. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins. Again, much like the Amiral de Beychevelle, it has a precise and refreshing mineralité-driven finish that lingers in the mouth. This is a delicious Beychevelle that will just need three to four years in bottle.
The 2023 Beychevelle represents 50% of this year's crop. Deep garnet-purple in color, it springs with vibrant notes of redcurrant jelly and blackcurrant pastilles giving way to an undercurrent of cranberries, crushed rocks, and wild thyme plus a hint of black olives. The light to medium-bodied palate is refreshing and pure, with a slight chewiness to the well-managed tannins, finishing on a savory note. The blend is 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, and 4% Petit Verdot. This is the highest proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon in Beychevelle ever, following the new plans to include more of this variety.
The 2023 Beychevelle has turned out especially well this year, exhibiting a more integrated, seductive style than recent vintages that were constructed in a punchier, more extracted register. Offering up aromas of cassis and plums mingled with notions of pen ink, violets and pencil shavings, it's medium to full-bodied, broad and fleshy, with a deep core of fruit and a classy, suave profile that foregrounds the estate's prime vineyard holdings on the plateau around Ducru-Beaucaillou. It's a blend of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot that represents 50% of the estate's production.