2012 Beausejour Becot

Tasted blind. Mid crimson. Perfumed. Rather gloriously opulent but not sickly, this spreads right across the palate. Proper wine! No exaggeration. Clean, fresh finish. (JR)

The 2012 Beau-Séjour Bécot was picked between 9 and 18 October. This has a rich and quite decadent bouquet compared to other vintages: copious red cherry and wild strawberry fruit mixed with blueberry and maybe just a touch of VA. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe tannin, sweet and generous in the mouth with touches of fig and damson jam towards the finish. It is a lovely, caressing Beau-Séjour Bécot although perhaps I might have picked this just a little earlier? Tasted at the château.

Tasted blind at the Southwold Bordeaux tasting. The 2012 Beauséjour Bécot had a strange bouquet at first, a little funkiness that soon dissipates with several swirls of the glass. I like the delineation here, nuanced red cherry and wild strawberry scents, black tea and undergrowth, though I noticed that it becomes just a little volatile with aeration—something to watch out for. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, foursquare for a Saint Emilion and yet nicely focused, just the right amount of dryness, if not quite delivering the requisite complexity and tension on the finish. This is one of those wines that is "nearly there" and needs bottle age, but I am certain it will come good once it has settled down. Tasted January 2016.