1989 Beychevelle
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Tasting notes
The 1989 Beychevelle repeats its performance from a blind tasting in London earlier in 2018. It has an old-school bouquet of dusky black fruit, morels and that light seawater note. The palate is medium-bodied with quite sharp tannin and rustic in style, featuring leathery red fruit and iron ore, though as I noted before, it has faded in recent years and I cannot see much benefit in cellaring this longer. Tasted from an ex-cellar bottle at the château .
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Wine Spectator
Robert Parker
More reviews and scores
The 1989 Beychevelle has plenty of dark berry fruit on the nose, touches of seawater and briary. Certainly very "old school" in style but I notice how it gains harmony in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with well defined black fruit, quite fresh and edgy, dovetailing into more red fruit towards the second half. One can tell it must have been quite a precocious Beychevelle in its youth and though, it has faded in recent years, this 1989 remains charming. It should offer another decade's worth of drinking pleasure. Tasted blind at "Philip's Belated February Christmas Party."
Both the 1989 and 1990 wines scored slightly lower than in previous tastings. In contrast to the 1990, the 1989 Beychevelle, which usually performs better than it did in the recent tasting, is an elegant, medium-bodied wine with soft tannin, copious quantities of ripe, herb-tinged, blackcurrant fruit, some evidence of toasty oak, and a generous, velvety-textured finish. It appears to be evolving quickly, and can be drunk now as well as over the next 15 years.
About the producer
With greater care in the vineyard and more precision in the winery, Ch. Beychevelle's star is rising. That's in large part due to the leadership of Philippe Blanc and investment by current owners, Japanese brewers Suntory and French wine group Castel.