© 2003-2013 I.Litwar
Beautiful sight, isn't it?!
Very stony surface in Beychevelle's vineyard (right/below)
Château Beychevelle is one of the most lovely and beautiful places to visit in Haut Medoc/Bordeaux. There's an extremely well kept garden in the front of chateau, but when you go into back-yard of Beychevelle. OMG! For sure it's one fantastic sight down to the Gironde, especially when blue skies and sunny weather act as perfect coulisse.
I've always admired Beychevelle, even if this wine hasn't always been consistent. But when it's successful in the given vintage like for instance 2005, you get the fair share of elegance, finesse and refinement. And 100% true Bordeaux wine as a gift for you! Beychevelle has always been affordable and hasn't jumped the wagon of sky rocketing prices.
2011 Beychevelle (barrel sample) 93p
Tasted in April 2012. This wine offered aromatic fruit (black cherries), was quite intense and powerful on the palate with fine structure, balance and finish. Terrific effort for the vintage.
2010 Beychevelle (barrel sample) 93-94p
Tasted twice - last time in August 2011. Consistent notes. Pretty aromatic and subtle wine, full-bodied. Splendid aftertaste with lot of flavours. Graceful and stylish. Stupendous wine.
2009 Beychevelle (barrel sample) 92-93p
Tasted three times - last time in September 2010. Not consistent notes. This wine was pretty aromatic, elegant and subtle wine, full-bodied. Splendid aftertaste with lot of flavours. Graceful and stylish. Has gained more concentration compared when tasted 5 months ago (April 2009).
2008 Beychevelle 92p
Tasted five times - last time in August 2011. Consistent notes. Seems to have gained more depth and concentration after bottling. Excellent bite, very aromatic, dense and complex. Delicious wine.
2007 Beychevelle 91p
Tasted six times - last time in September 2010. Consistent notes. It offered a great treat for your senses with extremely elegant, round and charming wine, which had seductive cherry fruit aromas on the nose. This wine is still gaining more concentration and more structure.
2006 Beychevelle 91p
Tasted twice - last time in September 2009. Consistent notes. Meaty and fleshy wine with perfectly ripe blackcurrants and raspberries, fine balance and long aftertaste.
2005 Beychevelle 95+p
Tasted four times - last time in March 2009. Consistent notes. 47% CS, 46% M, 3% CF and 4% PV. This is without doubt Beychevelle’s best vintage in modern times. This wine impressed me a lot already from the barrel in April 2006 and it’s obvious it didn’t lost a single inch of quality since then. It’s fabulous thick aroma of dark berries, awesome great length, balance and concentration, formidable depth and aftertaste, and its full load of finesse, elegance and graciosity, makes you extremely happy. Seamless wine. How long it will keep? 20-40 years I guess.
2004 Beychevelle 92p
Tasted four times - last time in August 2011. Consistent notes. 55% Grand Vin. 45% CS, 42% M, 7%CF and 5% PV. Great, great effort from the property. Embraces you with wonderfully aromatic nose and taste of dark cherries, enchanting finesse and elegance. It oozes of sheer class and pure style of traditional Bordeaux. Because of its delicious harmony between fruit and tannin, this wine will keep for another 10-15 years.
2003 Beychevelle 88p
Tasted four times - last time in September 2010. Consistent notes. Harvest finished on the 30th September. 53% CS, 34% M, 8%CF and 5% PV. Hot vintage, no doubt as fruit is varm but not cooked. Anyway, Beychevelle seems to have avoided dryness and edgy tannin through careful and thoughtful vinification. Nice grip, balance and depth. 5-8 years from now.
2002 Beychevelle 90p
Tasted six times - last time in September 2009. Consistent notes. Very impressive for the vintage. A real heartbreaker wine with its round and pleasant texture, very tasty berries and soft aftertaste. Good grip and aromatic touch. Drinks very well already now.
2001 Beychevelle 91p
Tasted six times - last time in March 2009. Consistent notes. 55% Grand Vin. 54% CS, 39% M, 6%CF and 7% PV. Very minty wine. Sophisticated , very elegant, very stylish indeed. Potent and with fine balance. True Bordeaux wine without all these modern vinification gimmicks! One to keep for another 10-15 years.
2000 Beychevelle 94p
Tasted twice - last time in November 2011. Consistent notes. Minty and therefore so typical of Cabernet Sauvignon. It was sophisticated, refined with glorious elegance, delicious fruit sweetness, great length and fresh, lingering aftertaste. Totally seductive wine! 15-20 years horisontally. Bottle tasted in November 2011 was even better and I rated it 95p.
1999 Beychevelle 86p
Tasted five times - last time in March 2009. Not consistent notes. Troublesome vintage because of too much rain and too little sunshine! Wet cartboard, not fully ripe grapes, a bit dry on the palate and short aftertaste. On its way down now, tasted a lot better in 2005 and in March 2009.
1998 Beychevelle 90p
1996 Beychevelle 93p
Tasted twice - last time in November 2008. Consistent notes. 52% CS, 35% M, 7%CF and 6% PV. This is a stupendous wine for the vintage. Cabernet Sauvignon grew perfectly ripe in 1996 and you can taste it. Powerful structure, impeccable balance, splendid concentration of ripe blackcurrants, truffles, deep and multilayered on the palate. Excellent and stylish wine with 10-15 more years to go.
1995 Beychevelle 90p
Tasted in March 2009. Very aromatic and stylish wine with enchanting elegance and finesse. Creamy fruit and soft texture, round and gentle wine. There is a pleasure for all the money. Drinks extremely fine already now.
1993 Beychevelle 85p
Tasted in April 2008 at the property. This wine showed barely perfect ripe fruit, but when you know the bad weather was in this vintage, you don’t expect too much. Just decent and quickly maturing wine.
Tasted in April 2008 at the property. 20% of potential grapes went lost, when black frost hit Bordeaux on the 21st April. This wine showed unripe fruit, smell of wet cardboard and edgy tannins. Already in vast decline.
Tasted in April 2008 at the propertty. Previous time I tasted Beychevelle 1988 was in 1990 during tasting in Copenhagen of 20+ vintages, but it hasn’t changed that much since then. Still dark ruby red, complex on the nose and palate, well-knitted, fine concentration and balance, plus smooth finish. Nice treat!
1986 Beychevelle 93p
Tasted twice - last time in November 2008. Consistent notes. I really like this wine! This gem from a great Cabernet Sauvignon year didn’t disappoint. It was really splendid wine with lot of stuffing, strong structure, leather, tobacco, great balance and long of aftertaste. Excellent wine, which still has 6-8 more years to go.
1982 Beychevelle 94p
Tasted in April 2008 at the property from magnum. This wine was simply a stunner with all the ingredients, this vintage is famous for. Dense, full of perfect ripe fruit, great structure, finesse, refinement and that splendid balance. Great, great vintage for Beychevelle. 6-10 more years in the cellar. 0.75 l bottle of this vintage tasted in November 2008 - more developed than I thought. A bit jammy. Otherwise, nicely balanced and with tasty dark fruit. 89p.
1978 Beychevelle 87p
Tasted in April 2008 at the property. This wine tried very hard to go in footsteps of 1986, but had some greenish aromas on the nose and seemed not to have really ripe fruit on the palate. Beychevelle's manager, Philippe Blanc, explained that Cabernet Sauvignon plots were harvested too early at Beychevelle in this vintage.
1975 Beychevelle 88p
1970 Beychevelle 93p
Tasted twice – last time in April 2008 at the property. This wine brought me back the very happy memories of an extremely nice bottle tasted in 1990 in Copenhagen. Very tight, perfectly structured and well-balanced wine, which impressed of its youthfulness, length and finish. Delightful.
1966 Beychevelle 89p
Tasted in April 2008 at the property. This wine had same flavors as 1978, but in much lesser intensity. Broad shouldered, compact, firm and robust wine, which certainly wasn’t over the hill. Will keep its ingredients together for a couple of more years.
1955 Beychevelle 95p
Tasted twice - last time in November 2008. Consistent notes. It was an enormous pleasure to “meet” such a wonderful and sophisticated piece of Beychevelle’s history. Extremely seductive, refined, beautifully balanced and sweetly finishing wine. In November 2008, it had very pure aroma of truffles. Will be going that strong for 5-6 more years.
1934 Beychevelle 97p
Tasted in April 2008 at the property. It was a showstopper of high rang. I also tasted this wine in 1990, but it was Danish bottling, however quite impressive. This real 1934 from the cellars of Beychevelle was a pure delight and a perfect example how beautifully Bordeaux can age. Awesome structure, incredible balance, pure elegance and finesse, silky fruit and what a seduction. Simply wonderful wine!!
1928 Beychevelle 97p
Tasted in November 2002. Impressively very dark colour. Dense and intense on the nose, potent, powerful on the palate with ripe fruit and cocoa plus chocolate. Fabulous wine, which still is going strong.
