2023, Château Beauséjour Duffau-Lagarosse, SAINT-ÉMILION, 1er Grand Cru Classé 'B'

Last Year EP $262.00-

This Saint Emilion Chateau is well-situated just to the west of the village above Angelus and bordering Canon and Belair-Monange.
The 2023 is made from 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc. 

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 brilliant effort from a property with almost limitless potential.
96-98 William Kelley, Wine Advocate.

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, 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. Camille de Vigneau the technical director with Josephine Duffau Lagarrosse. Brilliant winemaking, one of the wines of the vintage.
98 Jane Anson.

The 2023 Beauséjour Duffau-Lagarrosse has a very succinct bouquet, predominantly red fruit with light loamy and crushed stone aromas, a touch of wilted rose petal in the background. The palate is very fresh on the entry with finely chiseled tannins. There is a lot of mineralité here deriving from the vineyard's limestone terroir, and the tongue tingles in the mouth. This is a finely tuned and complex wine that is in the similar style of, say, Canon. It's not as audacious as the previous vintage, but potentially more cerebral.
94-96 Neal Martin.

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.
95-96 James Suckling.

A stellar wine. Juicy supple and alive in the glass, this has lift and get-go from the start, super clean and precise with a lovely bite and grip to the tannins. Fine and chalky, mouthfilling, elegant and so precise. The flavour also really lingers. This has a vertical aspect, layered with muscle and fine sinew. Juicy and succulent, pure and moreish - really makes you want another sip and somehow feels approachable already. Balanced and delicious.
98 Georgina Hindle, Decanter.