Château Beau-Sejour Becot Saint Emilion 2019

#11 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2022 : Located immediately west of the picturesque town of Saint-Émilion on the Saint-Martin de Mazerat limestone plateau, Beau-Séjour Bécot is in the heart of the appellation. The estate has been devoted to winemaking since the Gallo-Roman period. In 1787, General Jacques de Carles, wishing to commemorate for all time the pleasure that he enjoyed staying there, named the estate “Beau-Séjour” (meaning “lovely stay”). In 1969, Michel Bécot acquired the château and brought the area under vine up to 18.50 hectares thanks to the purchase of neighboring vineyard plots with the same terroir. He also turned seven hectares of former underground limestone quarries into a storage cellar where tens of thousands of bottles age under ideal conditions. His work in improving and embellishing the estate went on until his retirement in 1985.

His two sons, Gérard and Dominique, have followed in their father’s footsteps while introducing numerous technical innovations to both the cellars and the vineyard. Only the ripest, healthiest grapes are now harvested, and then sorted one by one. Gérard’s daughter, Juliette, started working at the château in 2001 in order to market wines from the family estate. 

The estate is planted to 80% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon on 22 hectares producing 70,000 bottles per vintage. The soils are clay and asteriated limestone. The wine is aged in barrel for 16 à 18 months in 70-100% new oak.