Château Beau-Séjour Bécot, 2017
Château Beau-Séjour Bécot, 2017
- 75cl
- 14.5%
- Red Still
- Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon
Couldn't load pickup availability
Optimal drinking window: Now - 2053
SPECIAL OFFER: BUY 2+ CASES for £240/CASE
Est. delivery in October, 2026
Beau-Séjour Bécot sits on the limestone plateau just west of Saint-Émilion's medieval town, and it shows. This is a Premier Grand Cru Classé B with genuine ambition — the Bécot family have been farming these vines since 1979 and have never stopped pushing the quality upward. The 2017 vintage on the Right Bank was excellent: a warm, dry summer after a tricky spring produced wines with concentration and freshness in equal measure, and Merlot-dominant blends like this came off particularly well.
In the glass, this has the plushness Saint-Émilion promises but with real structure underneath; black cherry and damson fruit, warm baking spice, a lifted violet note, and a limestone-driven mineral thread that keeps everything honest. The tannins are ripe but purposeful.
What the critics say:
"Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 Beau-Sejour Becot sails out of the glass with pronounced black cherries, kirsch, baked plums and boysenberries scents plus nuances of bay leaves, star anise and pencil shavings with a waft of roses. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers bags of juicy black fruits with a firm backbone of rounded tannins and bold freshness, finishing with great length and purity."
The estate's 16.5 hectares sit on the limestone plateau to the northwest of Saint-Émilion's town, with the vineyards resting on a thin layer of clay-limestone soil over a solid limestone bedrock. This calcareous base drains freely, stresses the vines just enough to concentrate the fruit, and lends wines a mineral precision that sets them apart from the richer, clay-heavy soils closer to Pomerol. The plateau's elevation provides slightly cooler nights, preserving the aromatic lift and natural acidity that give the wines their freshness and ageing potential.
Saint-Émilion Grand Cru is the upper tier of Saint-Émilion's appellation system, subject to stricter yield limits and mandatory tasting approval before release. At its peak, the classification includes a handful of Premiers Grands Crus Classés — divided into A (Pétrus aside, essentially Cheval Blanc and Ausone) and B — with Beau-Séjour Bécot sitting firmly in the B tier. Saint-Émilion is Merlot country: where the Médoc reaches for Cabernet's structure and longevity, the Right Bank leans into Merlot's generosity and roundness, softened and shaped by Cabernet Franc. The classification is controversial — it's been revised repeatedly and has attracted legal challenges — but the best estates here produce wines of genuine class that age with real grace.
The 2017 growing season in Bordeaux reads like a masterclass in how vines adapt to extremes. April frost damaged budbreak across the region, reducing yields significantly, then July and August delivered serious heat that pushed ripening along at pace. The saving grace came with cooler nights and a perfectly timed return to moderate conditions in September, allowing whatever fruit remained to develop proper balance rather than simply racing to sugar.
What emerged was a vintage of surprising concentration—not because the fruit was inherently powerful, but because there was simply less of it to go around. The Cabernets, particularly Cabernet Sauvignon, show real intensity without the hard edges that scorching summers often produce, while Merlot varies more dramatically depending on terroir and timing. We find these wines drinking beautifully now, offering immediate pleasure with their forward fruit and supple tannins, though the better examples will happily cruise until 2030. This isn't a vintage for the cellar obsessives, but for those who actually open bottles.
OUR GROWERS
Château Beau-Séjour Bécot
-
-
Speak to one of our Wine Gurus
Speak to a Wine GuruWith years of experience, our team can help you with all your wine buying and selling needs