CHÂTEAU BEAUSÉJOUR BÉCOT
2014 1er Grand Cru Classé Saint Emilion
The 2014 Beau-Séjour Bécot has a concentrated nose of blackberry, raspberry and briary, the oak nicely integrated though it clearly needs time to open. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, caressing and silky smooth in the mouth with quality new oak. This feels very harmonious with a lightly spiced, cedar-tinged finish that lingers in the mouth. What an outstanding performance. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. Drinking range: 2022 - 2044 Rating: 94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Mar 2018)
* 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.
The 2014 Beau-Séjour Bécot is an attractive, open-knit Saint-Émilion that will drink well with minimal cellaring. Dark and powerful, with well-judged extraction, the 2014 possesses striking balance. Mocha, spice, torrefaction and new leather meld around the expressive, inviting finish. There is a lot to like. Drinking range: 2019 - 2034 Rating: 92 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2017)
The 2014 Beau-Séjour Bécot emphasizes silkiness and finesse while conveying an overall impression of understated grace. Nuanced and super-expressive on the palate, the 2014 should offer a long drinking window of pure pleasure. Attractive scents of iron, smoke, herbs and tobacco add nuance on the close Rating: 90-93 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (May 2015)
The Château Beausejour Bécot 2014 , which absorbed the La Gomerie vineyard in 2012 (I wondered where it had gone...) is a blend of 87% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Cabernet Franc picked between 3 and 16 October at 28hl/ha. Raised in 60% new oak, it has a very pure, black cherry and iodine-scented bouquet that is well defined with fine mineralité. The palate is silky smooth with layers of new oak that are deftly interwoven into the creamy black fruit. Perhaps I would like to see more terroir coming through, but it does have an irresistible texture, the way it just glides across the mouth. This is one of Saint Emilion's most sensual offerings. Drinking range: 2018 - 2032 Rating: 91-93 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2015)
Fragrant, floral, dark fruit notes. Tender tannins and freshness on the palate. Supple texture. Long, clean finish. Well-handled extraction. (Highly Recommended St-Emilion, Decanter.) Drinking range: 2022 - 2035 Rating: 91 James Lawther MW, decanter.com (Apr 2015)
Both nose and palate have an opulent richness with lots of fleshy sweet fruit. It seems to dry in the middle the tannins obvious the back palate slightly dusty the finish short and drying. Drinking range: 2018 - 2027 Rating: 83-86 Derek Smedley MW, www.dereksmedleymw.co.uk (Apr 2015)
Dark crimson. Sweet, juicy but a little bit formless. Fruit juice rather than wine? Astringent finish and no great concentration. Drinking range: 2020 - 2028 Rating: 15.5 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2015)
Château Beau-Séjour Bécot
Château Beau Séjour Bécot sits on the slopes above Château Angelus, half a mile west of the town of St Emilion. It was once part of a larger Château Beauséjour estate which was owned by the de Carle family who owned Château Figeac. After a couple of changes of ownership, the estate was divided in 1869 between the children of Pierre-Paulin Ducarpe - his daughter's share became Château Beauséjour-Duffau-Lagarosse, whilst his son's, eventually, became Château Beau Séjour Bécot. The Bécot part of the name only became attached in 1969 when Michel Bécot bought the estate, and the Bécot family own it to this day. The controversial addition to Beau Séjour Bécot of some other vineyards owned by the Bécot family, an addition which nearly doubled the size of the estate, led to its demotion from Premier Grand Cru Classé status to "only" Grand Cru Classé status in 1979. Relentless work to prove that the new larger estate was as good, if not better, than before paid off in 1996 when Château Beau Séjour Bécot was re-elevated to Premier Grand Cru Classé status. The vineyards are a fairly typical mix of 70% Merlot and 24% Cabernet Franc with a small quantity of Cabernet Sauvignon. Maturation is in mostly new oak.
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those of the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do call us, but see the 'practical notes' below.
Ordering
Prices are per case as listed 'in bond London'.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment from you to buy the wines you order on release, subject to the price being below the upper price of the estimated band on our website. You may also set your own upper price limit, lower or higher than ours. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability. Providing this firm commitment to us effectively gives you priority.
Wines listed on the website (after any pre-orders and allocations have been fulfilled) can be ordered in the usual way via the website order form or by email or telephone 020 7221 1982, always subject to stock remaining.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are contractually binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of the confirmation date, apart from pre-orders which are binding if the release price is below the top estimate or other price you have set.
Invoices are raised at the In Bond price, excluding any duty and VAT which will become payable at the prevailing rates on arrival of the wine if required duty paid.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or credit transfer. We reserve the right to charge 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (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 £1000, orders below this total will be charged £16.50+ VAT when the wine invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery for 2016 Bordeaux primeurs will probably be completed by October 2019, but we make no guarantee as to specific delivery times, and some of the Sauternes may be later.
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) for immediate payment. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option, but do please note that confirmed orders are still binding as above even if the final invoice has not been issued.
When the wine is shipped, unless previously specified we will assume that delivery is to be to bonded storage with Elephant Storage, but in any case, we will contact you requesting any alternative instructions. If you have another bonded delivery address you would like the wine to go to, please tell us at the time of ordering. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue invoices at the rates prevailing at the time for the excise duty (currently £25.98 per case) and the VAT (currently at 20%) on the total of the wine cost and the duty.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the bottle size you want. Even if a wine is only listed in one size, you can order any bottle or case size you want if the property supplies it, but you must order the case/bottle size you require and check that the correct size has been invoiced.
Additional charges are as follows:-
- +£15 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£15 per case of 6 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£35 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£45 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.