2000 Château Beychevelle
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Tasting notes
Intensity and depth, this shows just how well built the 2000 vintage was in its youth, and how slowly it has come around. Now at the point where the tannins are starting to melt into the structure but still very much cradling the fruit. Cigar box and tobacco leaf, grilled coffee beans and mandarin peel, plenty of blackberry and bilberry fruits, great quality, full of St Julien finesse, ready to drink but with decades ahead, love this, and it's an upscore from my last tasting as it comes into its drinking window. Harvest September 22 to October 10, 60% new oak, 53hl/h yield.
Critic scores
Wine Spectator
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
The 2000 Beychevelle is slightly different from the other ex-château bottle tasted last year. This has a little more presence on the nose with peppermint-tinged red fruit, leather and camphor. Attractive, even if it is missing the typicité of the 2001. The palate is medium-bodied, and here I feel a bit of brett denudes the 2000 of delineation and the freshness it might otherwise have had. Well-knit, yet a little feral on the finish. (NM)
Mid crimson with lots of sweetness. Very gentle and a definite 2000. Good vintage definition from Beychevelle! Easy and only very slightly inky. Long and rich. (JR)
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.