Chateau Beychevelle

The estate is located at the south-eastern tip of St-Julien, close to the town of Beychevelle, neighboring Chateau St-Pierre and Gloria, and less than a mile from the Gironde to the east. The origin of the estate lies in the seigneurie of Lamarque, which was in the hands of the Grailly family in the early 15^th century.

Later it was passed to the Foix-Candale family in 1446, who also owned d’Issan. Under the tenure of this family the property was known as Chateau de Medoc. In 1587 the land and property came into the Duc d’Epernon, Jean-Louis Nogaret de la Valette, when he married the heiress of the estate Marguerite de Foix-Candale.

It was said that he was responsible to rename the property as Beychevelle. As the Governor of Guyenne, he was also an admiral of the French navy, and the ships sailing on the Gironde were required to lower their sails in respect when they passed in front of the estate.

The act, baisse voile in French, led to the name Beychevelle but there are doubts about its authenticity, as ships would lower the sails naturally when they approached the port. The title of the estate was later passed to the next generation, and his son Bernard left behind a big debt when he died, ending with the sales of the estate, to Duc de Rendan in 1642.

In turn it was passed to the Abbadie family, which under their direction the vineyard was established. When they sold the estate to Marquis Francois-Etienne de Brassier, the new owner built the chateau, completing it in 1757 and also reunited much of the estate which were sold off after Duc d’Epernon’s death, plus building a vat house.

His son Francois-Arnaud succeeded and his descendants continued to control the estate through the Revolution, but a large portion was cleaved off and purchased by Bergeron, who also owned Ducru-Beacaillou, with others absorbed into St-Pierre. Francois-Arnaud fleed the country when he killed a man in a duel, and what was left with the Brassier family came to his sister, before selling to Jacques Conte in 1800.

The estate was then sold to Pierre-Francois Guestier, mayor of St-Julien, in 1825, who also managed Langoa and Leoville-Barton, and got the estate ranked a fourth growth in the 1855 classification. He later sold the property to Armand Heine in 1874, then to the wealthy Achille-Fould family through the marriage of his daughter.

The next three generations did not bring dramatic improvement in quality of the wine, but in 1984 a large number of shares were sold to Grands Millesimes de France, the pension fund for the French civil servants. Later they bought all the remaining shares and then sold 40% to Japanese group Suntory, who also purchased Lagrange in 1983. The investment brought an improved quality as evident in recent vintages.

The deep Garonne gravel soils account for 90 hectares, planted with 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Average vine age is 25 years, with planting density of 10000 vines per hectare. Fermentation is temperature controlled, with ageing of 18 months in oak which is 50% new, with fining and no filtering.

The grand vin is Chateau Beychevelle with typical production of 25000 cases, and a second wine Admiral de Beychevelle of 12500 cases. There is a Haut-Medoc wine from plots bordering St-Julien, Brulieres de Beychevelle.

I have recently tasted the 2004 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Appearance

Bright and clear, the wine is of deep intensity ruby color, with garnet rims and legs.

Nose

Clean, with medium (+) intensity aromas of black fruit such as blackcurrant and black cherries, pungent spice of licorice, oak notes of toast, animal notes of farmyard, kernel notes of milk chocolate, mineral notes of graphite, hints of maturity notes like wet leaves. The wine is developing.

Palate

Dry with medium acidity, the wine has medium (+) tannin, ripe and silky in texture. Medium in alcohol but a bit warming, it has medium (+) body with medium intensity flavors of black fruit such as black cherries and blackcurrant, oak notes of cedar, kernel notes of chocolate, sweet spice of nutmeg. The wine has a medium finish.

Conclusion

Good quality St-Julien with an intense nose showing good complexity, the wine has an elegant harmony, with the different elements well-balancing each other to provide an enjoying taste on the palate, with reasonable concentration in the flavors and a fair length on the finish. Ready to drink now, the wine can further develop for another 2-3 years.