Tour and Tasting at Château Beychevelle, Appellation Saint-Julien, 4ième Grand Cru Classé, with Philippe Blanc, Managing Director - Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2019, France

Pictures: Tour and Tasting at Château Beychevelle, Appellation Saint-Julien, 4ième Grand Cru Classé, with Philippe Blanc, Managing Director - Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2019, France

The tour and tasting at Château Beychevelle was the first visit of the last day of the

Total Immersion in Bordeaux: World Class Wines and Exquisite French Gourmet Cuisine - Bordeaux Tour 2019 by ombiasy WineTours, France

This was the program for the rest of the day:

Tour and Lunch at Château Desmirail, Appellation Margaux, 3ième Grand Cru Classé, with Owner Denis Lurton

Tour and Tasting at Château Durfort-Vivens, Appellation Margaux, 2ième Grand Cru Classé

Winery Tour and Dinner at Château Bouscaut, Appellation Pessac-Léognan, Cru Classé de Graves, with Owner Sophie Cogombles-Lurton and her Husband Laurent Cogombles

At Château Beychevelle, Appellation Saint-Julien, 4ième Grand Cru Classé, we toured the estate and tasted 3 wines with General Manager Philippe Blanc.

Pictures: The Historic Château Beychevelle

Château Beychevelle

This historic château is one of the largest properties in Bordeaux. The château was constructed in 1565 by Bishop François of Foix-Candale and is well-known as the “Versailles of the Médoc” with its beautiful architecture, exquisite interior, and magnificent park.

A sequence of illustrious, noble proprietors enlarged the buildings and made the garden into one of the most spectacular in the Bordelais.

Pictures: The New Winery of Château Beychevelle

In 1875 Château Beychevelle was purchased by Armand Heine, the cousin of the famous German poet Heinrich Heine, who is best known outside of Germany for his lyric poetry which was set to music by composers such as Robert Schumann and Franz Schubert.

Since 1986 the property belongs to the Grands Millésimes de France. Manager has since been Aymar de Bailleux. A huge renovation project was underway for several years and finished in 2016. The new cellars are surrounded by glass walls.

Pictures: The New Reception Area of Château Beychevelle

Vineyard

Château Beychevelle has 250 hectares of land, about 90 of which are planted with vines. The rest consists of grassland where Limousin cows graze, and of pine forests, poplar, ash and walnut trees.

The vines have an average age of 30 years and are closely planted, with densities of 8,300 to 10,000 vines per hectare; they have developed substantial root systems, enabling them to draw nutrients from deep in the soil, and to cope with the sometimes difficult weather conditions, such as when there are droughts in the summer.

Pictures: In the Vineyard

The vineyard is planted with the Médoc’s four traditional grape varieties: 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot.

The heart of the vineyard is located on two plateaus of deep Garonne gravel from the Gunzian period, on the edge of the Gironde, providing ideal conditions for Cabernet Sauvignon. These are the famous gravelly hilltops of the Médoc, close to the Gironde, which offer the best conditions for the classic Bordeaux varietals. Returning the sun’s warmth during the night, and draining away excess rain water, the vines are able to flourish and the grapes ripen perfectly. The resulting deep red wines are well-balanced and generous, offering power tempered by a silky texture.

Pictures: Getting Ready for Harvest

New Winery

Château Beychevelle’s new winery has been custom-made to suit the vineyard, with every vine having a place in a plot-by-plot vinification process, that enables each terroir to express its full complexity and depth.

More spacious, and with an improved layout, the new facilities also permit a gentle transfer of the grapes by gravity, very precise temperature control, and extractions adjusted to the characteristics of each vat.

Combining innovation and tradition, the winery is a perfect reflection of Château Beychevelle’s “haute-couture” expertise.

Pictures: Tour of the New Winery

The Wines

Château Beychevelle
Grand Cru Classé

Ever since it was first produced, and down through the various vintages, Château Beychevelle has reflected the elegance and finesse of Saint Julien's finest terroirs.Graceful and complex, with a tremendous aromatic richness, Château Beychevelle is made from the best plots in the vineyard and undergoes a rigorous selection process.It reveals its character after about ten years, and can be kept for several decades, depending on the vintage.

Aging and fining: In French oak barrels for 18 months, with 50% in new oak barrels. The wine is then fined with egg whites, with traditional racking by candle light.

40 000 to 50 000 cases

Pictures: Barrel Cellar Tour

Amiral de Beychevelle
Château Beychevelle's Second Wine

The rigorous selection process undergone by the grand vin results in the creation of its younger brother, Amiral de Beychevelle.Despite being made from young vines, Amiral de Beychevelle benefits from the same growing techniques, meticulous sorting, and traditional barrel ageing.It has the same elegance and finesse as its older brother, but reveals its character more quickly, offering wine-enthusiasts the full vivacity of its youth. It can be kept for up to fifteen years, depending on the vintage.

Aging and fining: In French oak barrels for 12 months, with 30% in new oak barrels. The wine is then fined with egg whites, with traditional racking by candle light.

Pictures: Tasting with Philippe Blanc, Managing Director

Brulières de Beychevelle

Brulières de Beychevelle's 12 hectares of vines are 5 km from Beychevelle's vineyard; being further from the Gironde estuary, they benefit from a cooler climate.The vineyard is in the Haut-Médoc appellation and has been managed organically since 2008.Brulières' blend consists of just two grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.Vinified and aged in a separate winery, it is produced with the same level of care as Château Beychevelle and Amiral de Beychevelle.

The Wines we Tasted

2012 Amiral de Beychevelle

Wine-searcher average price in US$: 41

Nose of black fruit and spices. Delicious, full-flavoured attack and an elegant finish.

2012 Château Beychevelle Grand Cru Classé

Wine-searcher average price in US$: 107

The grand vin, the 2012 Beychevelle, is one of the stars of St.-Julien. Opaque purple, with beautiful crème de cassis notes, the wine has floral underpinnings, sweet tannin and a nice layered, multi-dimensional mouthfeel. This is elegant and powerful, rich and intense, but light on its feet. This is a great Beychevelle and certainly seems to exceed the vintage’s character and expectations. Give it 4-6 years of bottle age and drink it over the following 25-30 years. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate. Rating: 92+

2016 Château Beychevelle Grand Cru Classé

Wine-searcher average price in US$: 107

The 2016 Beychevelle is a blend of 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 47% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc cropped at 45 hectoliters per hectare between 3 October and 18 October. It is matured in 50% new oak. Furthermore, it is the first vintage to be matured in the new chichi winery whose glass exterior overlooks the passing traffic on the D2. It has a very pure, fragrant bouquet with black cherries, cassis, cedar and wet limestone, extremely precise to the point where you might think it was from the Right Bank (logical given the proportion of Merlot in the blend). The palate is sensational: understated at first and bridled with ultra-fine tannin, it is a Beychevelle armed with a disarming sense of symmetry. It builds in the mouth towards a fabulously tensile finish that is so fresh and full of energy that the senses are almost overwhelmed. Frankly, it leaves all the other Beychevelles in recent years standing. This is an electrifying 2016 from winemaker Philippe Blanc and his right-hand man, technical director, Romain Ducolomb. Drink 2026 - 2060.
Score: 96/98 Neal Martin, Wine Advocate (230), April 2017

Bye-bye

Many thanks Philippe for a great tour and tasting.

Pictures: Bye-bye

Philippe Blanc in Washington DC

A few months before the Bordeaux Tour 2019 by ombiasy WineTours, Annette had organized a winemaker dinner with Philippe (and Sophie Schÿler, Owner, Château Kirwan, Appellation Margaux, 3ième Grand Cru Classé en 1855) at the French Embassy in Washington DC.