2024 Chateau Beychevelle 4eme Cru Classe, Saint-Julien

The 2024 Beychevelle might very well be the wine of the vintage in Saint-Julien. It is certainly among the very best I tasted on the Left Bank. Plush, inky and beautifully layered in the glass, the 2024 is so silky and inviting. Blue/purplish fruit, lavender, mocha and spice are some of the many notes that stain the palate. The sustained, resonant finish is a thing of beauty. Tasted two times.

Flowers, spearmint, cedar, cigar box, currants, and a background note of cocoa pop on the nose. The juicy, fresh palate presents a display of black raspberries topped with mint, chocolate, and Indian spices, alongside cherries and black cherries with ease. This leaves a touch of chalk at the end of the vibrant finish. If you allow it a few years in the bottle before pulling a cork, it will be even better and should provide you with pleasure for two or more decades with ease. The wine blends 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot. 13.3% ABV, pH 3.57. The harvest took place September 24 – October 9. 58% of the harvest was placed into the Grand Vin. Drink from 2029-2050.

A pure, balanced, absolutely classy Saint-Julien, the 2024 Château Beychevelle is deep purple-hued with ample red, blue, and black fruits intermixed with notes of graphite, lead pencil, and background oak. It's balanced, medium-bodied, has polished tannins, the fresher, juicy acidity of the vintage, and a great finish. The blend is 55% Cabernet, 42% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot checking in at 13% alcohol with a pH of 3.57 and an IPT of 75.

Deep ruby cherry colour, this opens with bright plum and blackberry fruits, laced with cloves, white pepper, apple blossom. St Julien signature but the acidity accentuates the tannic grip at this point. Grands Millésimes De France, 41hl/ha yield.

The 2024 Beychevelle was picked from September 24 until October 9 and will mature in 70% new oak. This has a nicely composed, warm and sensual bouquet with plush blackberry, cassis and touches of violet. The 42% Merlot is very expressive. The palate is medium-bodied with, again, quite luxuriant tannins that lend this Beychevelle more comeliness than you would anticipate given the growing season. Perhaps it just misses a little sustain on the finish, but otherwise, this is a fine Saint-Julien. 13.3% alcohol.

55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot. Cask sample. Aromatically expressive. Red- and dark-berry fruit to the fore. Palate fresh and harmonious with integrated tannins. Structured. Classic in style. (JL)