CHÂTEAU BEAUSÉJOUR
2023 1er Grand Cru Classé Saint Emilion
Somehow manages to feel understated and yet hard to ignore, with its vivid aromatic spirals of peonies and crushed rose petals, set against raspberry and brambled autumnal fruits. The mid palate is what really grips you here, with a flashy but extremely pure shot of liquorice root, liquorice bud, aniseed and fennel. Slows things down through the palate with pumice stone grainy tannins, and contrasts the concentration of 2022 at this estate with balance and finesse. Harvest September 13 to October 3, Axel Marchal and Julien Viaud consultants. There will be a new wine cellar ready for the harvest of 2024, more concrete vats (from 9 currently - up to 15). Camille de Vigneau the technical director with Josephine Duffau Lagarrosse. Brilliant winemaking, one of the wines of the vintage. 60% new oak. Drinking range: 2030 - 2045 Rating: 98 Jane Anson, www.janeanson.com (May 2024)
75cl bottles (wood case of 3)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
Joséphine Duffau Lagarrosse's third vintage at this terrific hillside terroir is her most impressive to date. The 2023 Beauséjour (Duffau Lagarrosse) offers up aromas of black raspberries, mulberries, violets, spices and incense, followed by a medium to full-bodied, deep and layered palate that's seamless, suave and concentrated, with lively acids, beautiful purity of fruit and a long, mineral, gently balsamic finish. It's a blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc, picked on nine days between September 13 and October 3. Duffau Lagarrosse's work on oak selection (she favors Burgundy's cooperage Cadus, among others) has delivered much more seamless integration at this early stage, and her attentive approach to extraction is already bearing fruit in the form of tannins that are more polished and refined than was formerly the case at this address. It's a brilliant effort from a property with almost limitless potential. Rating: 96-98 William Kelley, The Wine Advocate (Apr 2024)
The 2023 Beausejour (formerly Beausejour Duffau-Lagarrosse but since 2021 simply named Beausejour) is a blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc. It is ageing in 60 % new oak barrels and it has a pH of 3.41. The color is a deep garnet-purple and after a swirl or two, it rockets out of the glass with intense scents of redcurrants, Bing cherries, and fresh blackberries, giving way to an undercurrent of candied violets, fragrant soil, and crushed rocks. The medium-bodied palate is a very tightly wound coil of red berry, mineral, and earthy flavors, framed by firm, fine-grained tannins and great tension, finishing long and perfumed. Gorgeous! Drinking range: 2029 - 2050 Rating: 96-98 Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent (May 2024)
The 2023 Beauséjour-Duffau is a powerful, resonant wine. In this early tasting, it does not feel totally put-together, but this sample shows good depth and plenty of potential. The 2023 is 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc, more Franc than in the past. That choice lends gorgeous aromatic presence, but also more structure. This is going to be a fascinating wine to follow. Drinking range: 2030 - 2053 Rating: 92-95 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (May 2024)
The blend of Beauséjour is 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc, and picking started September 13th, finishing on the 29th for the Merlots, with the Cabernet Franc picked on October 2nd and 3rd. The yield was 46 hl/ha, and it will see 60% new oak. Rather a pure expression on the nose, of ripe red cherry, laced with tobacco and leather, with perfumed rose and peony. The palate is beautifully silky and tense, yet with very finely drawn edges, elegant and restrained, with a taut limestone-infused but medium-bodied substance, gripped by fine, powdery, integrated tannins. This is a very restrained, understated expression of the Beauséjour terroir, but it has great acidity and tannic structure, and I can see it aging well. There are good things happening at Beauséjour, and I cane see more wines of this quality emerging from here in the future. The alcohol is about 14%. Rating: 93-95 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2024)
The purity of fruit is impressive here, with raspberry, blueberry and mineral character. It’s so precise and focused with medium body and lovely length. Rating: 95-96 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2024)
Château Beauséjour
Chateau Beauséjour (Until 2023 known as Beauséjour Duffau Lagarosse) was built in 1851 by the Laporte family. The Laporte family owned several vineyard estates in the Bordeaux region and were also prosperous wine merchants. In those days, the large chai was used to store and age the most prestigious wines of the Saint Émilion and Pomerol regions (Cheval Blanc, Petrus, Beau-Sejour, Nénin, La Conseillante, ... and Château Beausejour!) The estate was purchased in 1994 by a group of wine loving investors. During this period, the Germain Vineyards Company was in charge of the management and the marketing of the wines. Patricia and Pierre Bernault have owned Château Beauséjour Duffau Lagarosse since December 2004; Pierre himself comes from a family of vine growers, who have been cultivating their own vineyards since 1850. As soon as Patricia and Pierre Bernault bought Beauséjour, Stéphane Derenoncourt and his team got involved in giving them advice on restoration of the vineyard and the soil, as well as on the rigorous stages of the process of making and maturing wine.
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those on the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do contact our private client team via email or on 020 7018 0187.
Ordering
Prices are all in bond by the case size stated.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment to buy wines on release, as long as the release price is within the upper and lower price bands set by you on the pre-order form. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability but providing this firm commitment to buy effectively gives you priority and is a good idea for the most desirable wines.
Wines listed on the website can be ordered in the usual way via the website wishlist order form. You can also send orders directly to our private client team via email. Please note that, for the most sought-after wines, priority will be given to those who ordered the same wines last year and to those that have pre-ordered.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of email confirmation. Pre-orders are not binding if the release price is above your upper price band.
Invoices are all raised at the in bond price (excluding any duty and VAT) which will become payable at the prevailing rates when the wines arrive in the UK, should you wish to take duty paid delivery.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We regret we cannot accept credit cards for en primeur orders. We reserve the right to apply a dunning charge of 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (at LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
- Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
- Other deliveries (In Bond and Duty Paid) are also free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £500. Orders below this total will be charged an administration and handling fee of £16.50+ VAT when invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery of 2023 Bordeaux bought en primeur is expected during 2026. Delivery dates may vary as wines are shipped from Bordeaux at different times.
Practical notes - how it works
We start a sale in each customer's name and add all their primeur orders to one sale which is invoiced at the end of the campaign (or when the customer wishes). Immediate payment of invoices is then required by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option but please note that confirmed orders are still binding even if the final invoice has not yet been issued.
Please specify on your wishlist order form where you would like the wines shipped on arrival in the UK. If this is to a third-party bonded warehouse, please specify the relevant account details. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue a second invoice for duty and VAT at the prevailing rate when the wines are available for delivery.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the format you want. While most of our listings are for 75cl bottles, we can source wines in any format that is offered by the Château. Please note that format requests cannot be changed once wines have been invoiced. Additional charges for special formats do apply and are as follows:-
- +£18.00 per case of 12 half-bottles
- +£30.00 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£7.50 per case of 3 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£11.00 per case of 6 Magnums
- +£45.00 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£60.00 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.
Storage Options:
Wines bought en primeur won't arrive in the UK until 2026. If you do not wish to take home delivery at that point, you may wish to consider where you would like the wines shipped. Lea & Sandeman offers duty paid and in bond storage through a dedicated storage company called Elephant Storage. For more details on the terms and fees associated with storage please go to our Storage Homepage or contact our private client team for more information.