Château Beau-Séjour Bécot 2022 Saint-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé

Jeff Leve (The Wine Cellar Insider)
98/100 punten
The bouquet of red and purple flowers stands out in the nose before you get to the sweet, red, black and blue fruits, licorice and spice. On the palate the wine is incredibly dense, sensuous, opulent and deep. Yet, with all the concentration, the wine is weightless, and effortless to drink. On the mid-palate, the waves of fruits keep coming as they coat your palate. The purity in the fruit, the energy, length, balance, and complexity is at a new level here. The seamless finish, with its ocean of berries, topped by a salty, crushed stones hits the 60 second mark. The best part of the experience is the velvet-drenched-texture that needs to be experienced. The wine blends 76% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.5%, ABV, 3.55 pH. The harvest took place, September 5 - September 26. Yields were 33 hectoliters per hectare. Make no mistake, this is the best wine ever produced at Beau-Sejour Becot.

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
(96-98)/100 punten
With the 2022 Beau-Séjour Bécot, this estate has taken another step up the ranks in Saint-Émilion, producing a wine of breathtaking perfume and harmony that will be worth a special effort to seek out. Wafting from the glass with aromas of wild berries, violets, lilac, raw cocoa and forest floor, it's medium to full-bodied, seamless and complete, with an ample and enveloping core of weightless fruit, beautifully powdery tannins and a long, saline, resonant finish. Recently planted massale selection Cabernet Franc is now producing meaningful yields at this address, so this cépage now represents 22% of the blend, complemented by 2% Cabernet Sauvignon and the balance Merlot. The team harvested only in the mornings, picking Merlot from 5-18 September and Cabernet from 13-23 September, sub-block by sub-block.

Vinous (Antonio Galloni)
(98-100)/100 punten
The 2022 Beau-Séjour Bécot has a bit more Cabernet Franc than most years, which comes through immediately in the wine's aromatic profile. Dark, rich and expressive, the 2022 is seriously impressive. Crushed flowers, herbs, mint, blood orange and red-toned fruit all build into a sumptuous, majestic finish that just explodes on the back end. The 2022 is one of the very finest editions of Beau-Séjour Bécot I can remember tasting. It is a great, great wine.

Jeb Dunnuck
(95-97+)/100 punten
Tasted on multiple occasions, the 2022 Château Beau-Séjour Bécot always impressed, and I think it's clearly one of the finest vintages for this château. Including more Cabernet Franc than usual and a blend of 76% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon, its ruby/purple hue is followed by a pure, ultra-fine, seamless Saint-Emilion with a wonderful core of black raspberry fruits supported by beautifully complex notes of chalky minerality, flowery incense, tobacco, and graphite. Medium to full bodied, with beautiful tannins and a great finish, this is never the most massive or concentrated wine in a vintage, yet it shines for its incredible sense of elegance, finesse, and complexity. The élevage here will span 18 months in 55% new French oak, and this hit 14.5% natural alcohol with a pH of 3.55. It will drink well for 30+ years.

Decanter
96/100 punten
Floral notes on the nose. Tangy and sharp, lively and bright straight away, sweet and sour, so energetic and lively with a mineral grip from the fine, firm, grippy tannins. Lovely precision and almost delicate presentation of fruit. You really feel the mineral, salty, tangy aspect of the fruit, nothing feels overworked, all in balance, really quite thrilling and electric. Great purity and focus. Scintillating yet still with a lovely volume and roundness accented by tobacco, clove, liquorice and cinnamon touches. Really well worked and fresh - this feels very modern with such control to the fruit, tannins, acidity giving overall depth and complexity. Elegant but confident, taking the best density from clay density and freshness from limestone. A very singular charm with this wine. 3.55pH. 10% press wine.

The Wine Independent (Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW)
(95-97)/100 punten
A blend of 76% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2022 Beau-Sejour Becot has more Cabernet Franc than any previous vintage. The pH is 3.55 pH and it has a deep purple-black color. Notions of blackcurrant jelly, blackberry pie, and warm plums jump from the glass, followed by suggestions of cedar chest, Sichuan pepper, and garrigue. The medium to full-bodied palate is chock-full of juicy black fruit flavors, with bright acidity and ripe, rounded tannins, finishing long and earthy.

Jancis Robinson
17+/20 punten
The change to a more refined style clearly marked. Juicy, fresh and floral with a feather-light touch to the palate. Substance and structure, though, the tannins plentiful and long. Clean, refreshing finish, the limestone terroir apparent.

Jane Anson (Inside Bordeaux)
96/100 punten
This has double the amount of Cabernet Franc in the blend as of this year after vineyard restructuring, and the chalkiness of the limestone helps underline the curling peony and violet floral character on the opening beats, balancing the intensity of the vintage. Plenty of blueberry and damson fruit, with bitter cocoa bean and coffee, saffran and smoked dried herbs. Highly successful. No irrigation, instead used cover crops, and reduced the height of the canopy by 15cm to limit the transevaporation. Cold maceration for 10-15 days, 55% new oak, 30% oak casks, and amphoras. Jean de Cournuaud technical director. 33hl/h yield after frost impact, harvest September 5 to 23. The new cellar will be ready for the end of August for the 2023 vintage.