CHÂTEAU BEYCHEVELLE

The 2023 Beychevelle is fabulous. As always, Beychevelle includes quite a bit more Merlot than most wines in the appellation, but the Cabernet is especially high here. Inky dark fruit, crème de cassis, mocha, licorice and lavender build in the glass. This juicy, extroverted Saint-Julien has a ton to offer. The combination of fruit intensity, acid and supporting structure is superb. The 2023 is showy, but not at all overdone. Beychevelle remains one of the most distinctive wines in all of Bordeaux. It is especially classy in this edition. Tasted two times. Drinking range: 2033 - 2063 Rating: 94-96 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (May 2024)

The 2023 from Beychevelle offers some appealing fruit on the nose, with creamed summer berries, vanilla and a little raspberry leaf freshness. The palate follows with a modestly textured substance, fresh and bright, medium-bodied, with a rather loosely composed midpalate, with firm but nicely melded tannins. A gentle texture here, with juicy fruit, laid over a firm structure, this leads into a sappy and tannin-rich finish. Rather fresh and bright, with good grip, I could see this developing well. Tasted twice. Rating: 91-93 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2024)

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. Rating: 93-94 William Kelley, The Wine Advocate (Apr 2024)