Chateau Beychevelle 4eme Grand Cru Classe, Saint Julien 2018

50% Merlot, 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc

Château Beychevelle is a well-regarded wine estate based in the Saint-Julien appellation of Bordeaux’s northern Haut-Médoc wine region, on the left bank of the Gironde estuary.. The estate’s flagship, Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant, wine is known for its supple power and smooth, rich texture, and better vintages have great aging ability. In the Bordeaux Classification of 1855 it was ranked a fourth growth.

The 250-hectare (620-acre) estate is situated in the extreme southeast of the Saint-Julien appellation, just outside the small commune of Beychevelle. The château building lies just east of Branaire-Ducru and south of Ducru-Beaucaillou.

The Beychevelle vineyard covers 90 hectares (222 acres) of deep Garonne gravel, with 62 percent planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, which is dominant in the wine itself. The remaining vineyard has 31 percent Merlot, 5 percent Cabernet Franc and 2 percent Petit Verdot.

The eponymous flagship wine, or “grand vin”, is aged for 18 months in oak barrels, half of which are new. A second wine, Amiral de Beychevelle, is made from lots not earmarked for the grand vin.

The flagship 2018 Château Beychevelle is a more serious, concentrated, focused wine that still has that classic Saint-Julien purity of fruit as well as a wealth of fruit. Gorgeous notes of crème de cassis, chocolate-covered blueberries, violets, spring flowers, tobacco leaf, and cedar notes all emerge from the glass, and it’s medium to full-bodied, with sweet tannins, moderate acidity, and a great, great finish. A blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, it’s one of the sexiest, most up-front and irresistible wines in the vintage. Don’t let that scare you, though; it’s going to drink beautifully for 2-3 decades.

Jeb Dunnuck 96
Vinous 96
Robert Parker 95
Wine Spectator 95
James Suckling 94
Wine Enthusiast 94