2011 Château Beychevelle, St Julien, Bordeaux

2011 Château Beychevelle, St Julien, Bordeaux

Product: 20118007528
Prices start from £450.00 per case Buying options
2011 Château Beychevelle, St Julien, Bordeaux

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Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
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6 x 75cl bottle
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Description

I always love tasting at this Château. Philippe Blanc, head honcho, is so down to earth and matter of fact you can’t help but trust him. I asked him if he was happy with his 2011. “It’s not 2009 or 2010, but it’s in the top 50% of wines we have made in the last decade. Try it – you tell me”. He is right.

Not as flamboyant as the last two years, however it has real density and sweetness that other wines are lacking this year. Sumptuous, plump and really attractive with an excellent and lengthy finish, I seriously think it is more attractive than their 2005. Great work Mr White!
Simon Staples, Asia Fine Wine Director

wine at a glance

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Critics reviews

Antonio Galloni, Vinous
Vivid deep ruby. Perfumed notes of violet, orange peel and sweet spices complement blackcurrant and blackberry coulis on the enticing nose. Juicy, spicy and youthfully tight, showing a distinct peppery nuance and a hint of cocoa. This midweight appears to be shutting down in the bottle but shows very good depth for the year. A promising Beychevelle.
89+/100 Ian D'Agata, vinous.com, July 2014 Read more
Wine Advocate87/100
Beychevelle appears to have handled the 2011 vintage in an intelligent manner, producing a soft, round, attractive, medium-bodied wine that, while not terribly deep or powerful, is well-balanced with excellent equilibrium and lots of dusty, loamy soil notes interwoven with black cherry and plummy fruit. This pretty St.-Julien can be drunk over the next decade.
Robert M. Parker, Jr. - 30/04/2014 Read more
Wine Spectator88-91/100
This has good ripe plum and black cherry fruit woven with a currant eau-de-vie aroma. There's fine-grained structure and an easy, vanilla-tinged finish. Not as dense as the top St.-Juliens.
2011 Top-Scoring Red Bordeaux - James Molesworth, Wine Spectator, April 10, 2012 Read more
Robert Parker87-89/100
A medium-bodied, pleasant, lighter style of St.-Julien, the 2011 Beychevelle reveals a dark plum/ruby color in addition to notes of strawberries, black cherries, new saddle leather and hints of herbs and earth. Refreshing and delicate, it should drink well for 10-15 years.
Robert Parker - Wine Advocate - April 2012 Read more
Decanter16.5/20
Well-expressed Cabernet fruit and typical Beychevelle restrained elegance, with more fruit and depth to show as it matures. Read more

About this WINE

Chateau Beychevelle

Chateau Beychevelle

Château Beychevelle is a 4ème Cru Classé St-Julien wine property that boasts one of the most impressive châteaux in the whole of the Médoc. Its label depicts a beautiful galley with a large sail, as a consequence of its ownership in the 16th century by the Duc d`Eperon, Admiral of France at the time. The expression "Baisse-Vaille", meaning "lower sails", later evolved into the name Beychevelle. Today the property is owned by Grands Millésimesde France.

Beychevelle's 85 hectares of vineyards are located in the far south of the St-Julien appellation, just outside the hamlet of St-Julien-Beychevelle. The wine is typically a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot. It is matured in oak barrels (50-60% new) for 18 months. It is renowned for its suppleness, smoothness and its rich, and sometimes chocolatey character.

The best examples from the best Beychevelle vintages are powerful and concentrated, with oodles of almost sweet, ultra-ripe Cabernet fruit, and can age effortlessly.

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St Julien

St Julien

St Julien is the smallest of the "Big Four" Médoc communes. Although, without any First Growths, St Julien is recognised to be the most consistent of the main communes, with several châteaux turning out impressive wines year after year. 

St Julien itself is much more of a village than Pauillac and almost all of the notable properties lie to its south. Its most northerly château is Ch. Léoville Las Cases (whose vineyards actually adjoin those of Latour in Pauillac) but,  further south, suitable vineyard land gives way to arable farming and livestock until the Margaux appellation is reached.  

The soil is gravelly and finer than that of Pauillac, and without the iron content which gives Pauillac its stature. The homogeneous soils in the vineyards (which extend over a relatively small area of just over 700 hectares) give the commune a unified character.

The wines can be assessed as much by texture as flavour, and there is a sleek, wholesome character to the best. Elegance, harmony and perfect balance and weight, with hints of cassis and cedar, are what epitomise classic St Julien wines. At their very best they combine Margaux’s elegance and refinement with Pauillac’s power and substance.

Ch. Léoville Las Cases produces arguably the most sought-after St Julien, and in any reassessment of the 1855 Classification it would almost certainly warrant being elevated to First Growth status.

Recommended Châteaux: Ch. Léoville Las CasesCh.Léoville Barton, Ch Léoville Poyferré, Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou, Ch Langoa Barton, Ch Gruaud Larose, Ch. Branaire-Ducru, Ch. Beychevelle

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Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon lends itself particularly well in blends with Merlot. This is actually the archetypal Bordeaux blend, though in different proportions in the sub-regions and sometimes topped up with Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.

In the Médoc and Graves the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend can range from 95% (Mouton-Rothschild) to as low as 40%. It is particularly suited to the dry, warm, free- draining, gravel-rich soils and is responsible for the redolent cassis characteristics as well as the depth of colour, tannic structure and pronounced acidity of Médoc wines. However 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be slightly hollow-tasting in the middle palate and Merlot with its generous, fleshy fruit flavours acts as a perfect foil by filling in this cavity.

In St-Emilion and Pomerol, the blends are Merlot dominated as Cabernet Sauvignon can struggle to ripen there - when it is included, it adds structure and body to the wine. Sassicaia is the most famous Bordeaux blend in Italy and has spawned many imitations, whereby the blend is now firmly established in the New World and particularly in California and  Australia.

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