Château Beauséjour, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru, 2023

"Somehow manages to feel understated and yet hard to ignore, with its vivid aromatic spirals of peonies and crushed rose petals, set against raspberry and brambled autumnal fruits. The mid palate is what really grips you here, with a flashy but extremely pure shot of liquorice root, liquorice bud, aniseed and fennel. Slows things down through the palate with pumice stone grainy tannins, and contrasts the concentration of 2022 at this estate with balance and finisse. Harvest September 13 to October 3, Axel Marchal and Julien Viaud consultants. There will be a new wine cellar ready for the harvest of 2024, more concrete vats (from 9 currently up tp 15). Camille de Vigneau the technical director with Josephine Duffau Lagarrosse. Brilliant winemaking, one of the wines of the vintage. 60% new oak."

"A stellar wine from this newly-named Château Beauséjour estate (removing the Héritiers Duffau-Lagarrosse). Herbal and dark fruit on the nose, blackcurrant with cocoa powder, liquorice, some exotic spices as well as purple floral notes, peonies and roses. Juicy supple and alive in the glass, this has lift and get-go from the start, super clean and precise with a lovely bite and grip to the tannins. Fine and chalky, mouthfilling, so you get the ample structure but keeps its direction and flow. Power is there for sure, which some 2023s don’t have, but this is also elegant and so precise. The flavour also really lingers. This has a vertical aspect, layered with muscle and fine sinew. Juicy and succulent, pure and moreish - really makes you want another sip and somehow feels approachable already. Balanced and delicious. Consultants Julien Viaud and Axel Marchal. 46hl/ha yield. 3.4pH. Ageing 14-16 months, 60% new oak. 70% grand vin."

"Joséphine Duffau Lagarrosse's third vintage at this terrific hillside terroir is her most impressive to date. The 2023 Beauséjour (Duffau Lagarrosse) offers up aromas of black raspberries, mulberries, violets, spices and incense, followed by a medium to full-bodied, deep and layered palate that's seamless, suave and concentrated, with lively acids, beautiful purity of fruit and a long, mineral, gently balsamic finish. It's a blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc, picked on nine days between September 13 and October 3. Duffau Lagarrosse's work on oak selection (she favors Burgundy's cooperage Cadus, among others) has delivered much more seamless integration at this early stage, and her attentive approach to extraction is already bearing fruit in the form of tannins that are more polished and refined than was formerly the case at this address. It's a brilliant effort from a property with almost limitless potential."