Château Beau-Séjour Bécot, formerly Château Beauséjour-Dr-Fagouet, is a Bordeaux wine from the appellation Saint-Émilion, ranked Premier grand cru classé B in the Classification of Saint-Émilion wine. The winery is located in the Right Bank of France’s Bordeaux wine region in the commune of Saint-Émilion, in the department Gironde.

History

The estate has been devoted to winemaking since the Gallo-Roman period. In 1787, General Jacques de Carles, wishing to commemorate for all time the pleasure that he enjoyed staying there, named the estate “Beau-Séjour” (meaning “lovely stay”).

In 1969, Michel Bécot acquired the château and brought the area under vine up to 18.50 hectares thanks to the purchase of neighbouring vineyard plots with the same terroir. He also turned seven hectares of former underground limestone quarries into a storage cellar where tens of thousands of bottles age under ideal conditions. His work in improving and embellishing the estate went on until his retirement in 1985.

His two sons, Gérard and Dominique, have followed in their father’s footsteps while introducing numerous technical innovations to both the cellars and the vineyard. Only the ripest, healthiest grapes are now harvested, and then sorted one by one. Gérard’s daughter, Juliette, started working at the château in 2001 in order to market wines from the family estate.

Vineyards

The vineyard area extends 16.5 hectares with the grape varieties of 70% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Franc and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon. Chateau Beau-Sejour Becot is located on the limestone plateau of Saint Emilion with a terroir of clay that has deep, limestone soils. Below the surface there is an endless array of limestone tunnels and quarries, that really explain what makes the wine of Beau-Sejour Becot so special.

Wines

Again, Michel Rolland - the flying winemaker - plays an important role here. The wines are rich, fruity and concentrated. Of the Grand vin, Château Beau-Séjour Bécot and the second wine, Tournelle de Beau-Séjour Bécot, there is a total annual production of 5,000 cases.

The Bécot family acquired the Gomerie vineyard in 1995, an adjacent plot of 2.5 hectares, from which a wine is produced in the manner of "Garage wine". From a small vineyard of extremely low yields, the wine performs according to "Garagiste" norms, with new wood predominance, a small production, high ratings from Robert Parker and high prices. The wine consists of 100% Merlot, and production is limited to 1,000 cases per year. From this vineyard there is also produced a second wine, Mademoiselle La Gomerie.