Château Beau-Séjour Bécot
The Château Beau-Séjour Bécot is a French winery and is located in the Saint-Émilion area . Among the goods there, it belongs to the second highest classification level as Premier Grand Cru Classé B , see also the article Bordeaux wine (classification) .
The vineyards of Beau-Séjour Bécot are well situated on the limestone plateau of Saint-Émilion. The winery has 16.5 hectares of vineyards ; the average age of the vines is 35 years. The current planting is 70% Merlot , 24% Cabernet Franc and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon .
The wines from Beau-Séjour Bécot have steadily improved since the mid-1980s. However, in 1985 the estate was downgraded from Premier Grand Cru Classé B to Grand Cru Classé due to acquisitions of land, and only got the chance to upgrade in 1996; she also used the estate. The wines are full-bodied and rich. This is the result of the estate's decisions to pick only very ripe grapes and to use a large proportion of new barrels to develop the wine. Last but not least, this shows the influence of the consultant oenologist Michel Rolland .
The output in normal years is around 70,000 bottles. The 2005 wine of the year is the best in three decades and has been awarded 94 Parker points . The wine of the year 2000 already indicated the good's potential with 93 points. Parker indirectly advises against wines from this property before 1985 because, in his opinion, they don't go beyond the 70's level.
history
In the Middle Ages, the monks of the Saint-Martin Abbey cultivated the Beauséjour vineyards. They later came into the possession of the Gerès family. By marriage in 1722 François de Carle, the owner of Château Figeac , acquired the as yet undivided Beauséjour. Due to financial difficulties, Armand de Carle-Trajet sold Beauséjour in 1823 to a gentleman named Trocquart. In 1847 he sold it to his cousin Pierre-Paulin Ducarpe, who split it up in 1869. The later owners each attached their names to those of the châteaus. The Château Beauséjour Duffau-Lagarrosse was created from the split off part . After the doctor Jean Fagouet, who bought what is now Beauséjour-Bécot in 1924, it was initially called Beauséjour-Fagouet. In 1954 it was classified as Premier Grand Cru Classé B, but the quality of the wine remained below its potential.
In 1969 he sold it to Michel Bécot, who already owned the neighboring Château La Carte. He immediately invested large sums of money. The vineyards received new drains , the cellar was equipped with stainless steel tanks and a large barrel cellar was built. He integrated his own property and the Château Les Trois Moulins, acquired in 1979, into the production of Beauséjour-Bécot. This measure met with disapproval from those responsible for the classification. Up to now, both had only produced Saint-Émilion Grand Cru, even if their vineyards were equivalent to those of Grand Cru Classé. In the regular revision, Beauséjour-Bécot was therefore withdrawn from "Premier" status in 1985. In the same year Michel Bécot retired. Under the leadership of his sons Gérard and Dominique, the château increased its efforts. In 1996 they were rewarded with promotion to the Premier Grands Crus Classés class, and in 2006 that status was confirmed. Juliette Bécot has supported the brothers since 2001.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Clive Coates : The wines of Bordeaux. Vintages and tasting notes 1952 - 2003 . 1st edition. University of California Press, 2004, ISBN 0-297-84317-6 , pp. 198 .