2023 Château Beau-Site, St Estèphe, Bordeaux
Critics reviews
This is full of slate, juicy and bright blackberry and raspberry fruits, savoury edges of raspberry leaf and coffee bean, good quality, with asutere tannins that bring you firmly into En Primeur mode, with potential for ageing. Casteja family. 35% new oak, and a healthier yield than the 2022 at this property.
Drink 2026 - 2036
Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux (April 2024)
The 2023 Beau-Site has a pretty bouquet that takes a little encouragement, revealing light blackberry and wild hedgerow aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins. This is quite a structured and bold Beau-Site, but there is plenty of substance on the finish that should see it age well over the next 15 years.
Drink 2027 - 2040
Neal Martin, Vinous.com (April 2024)
Blend: 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc.
A medium-bodied red with blackcurrant, spice and walnut aromas and flavors. Medium body, juicy fruit and fine tannins. Already pretty for this appellation.
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (April 2024)
About this WINE
Château Beau-Site
Château Beau Site is a well-established St. Estèphe château that was originally classified as a Cru Bourgeois supérieur in 1932. It was acquired by the Castéja family, who also own Château Batailley, and Château Trotte Vieille, in 1955. Since 1966 Beau Site has been classified as a Cru Grand Bourgeois Exceptionnel.
Château Beau Site is located outside the village of St. Corbian, which is at the northern extreme of the St.Estèphe appellation. There are nearly 100 hectares of vines with a high average age of 35 years. The wine is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. It is vinified traditionally and is then matured in oak casks (50% new) for 12-15 months.
Beau Site is a classic St. Estèphe, displaying good levels of ripe black and red fruits, as well as firm and meaty tannins. A traditionalist's claret.
Saint-Estèphe
Saint-Estèphe is the northernmost of the most important communes of the Médoc and borders Pauillac on its southernmost border, with only a gully and stream separates it from Ch. Lafite. To the north lies the Bas-Médoc.
Saint-Estèphe is defined by the depth of its gravel, which is ubiquitous but of varying depths and occasionally very shallow, when clay predominates. This keeps the soil cooler and wetter than its counterparts so that the wines can appear fresh in lighter vintages, but superbly successful in hot, dry years.
The best châteaux in the south of the commune have the deepest soil and the thickest gravel. Cos d'Estournel has an exceptional terroir with its vineyards being located on a south-facing ridge of gravel with excellent drainage.
Saint-Estèphe is the least gravelly of main Médoc communes and in the north of the commune the vineyards are heavier and more clay-based leading to a rustic style of wine being produced.
The wines can appear austere in youth with a discernable ferric note at some châteaux, but the best typically display good depth of colour, pronounced acidity an tannins in youth and are exceptionally long-lived. At their best, they are the equal of almost any Bordeaux. The well-regarded St Estèphe co-operative controls the production of about half the appellation.
Recommended Châteaux
Cos (Ch. Cos d'Estournel), Ch. Montrose, Ch. Calon-Ségur, Ch. Lafon-Rochet, Ch. Les Ormes de Pez, Ch. Beau-Site, Ch. Cos Labory, Ch. Phélan-Ségur
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.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
Blend: 70% Cabernet Sauvignon; 25% Merlot; 3% Petit Verdot; 2% Cabernet Franc.
This is owned by the Castéja family and so from the same stable as Ch. Batailley; it inherits some of its sibling’s earnest solidity. There are some decent gravelly notes to give the wine a St Estèphe bite. There is an appealing squeeze of freshness to the finish. This is a perfectly honest, soundly made wine that will probably surprise a few by displaying more dimension after a few years in bottle.
Drink 2027 - 2037
Our score: 15.5/20
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