Château Beau-Site 2018 (Bordeaux) - Wine Review

Tonight's red wine review is a beautiful Left Bank Bordeaux red wine from the Saint-Estèphe appellation that arrived at the LCBO as part of the recent May 11 LCBO VINTAGES New Release Collection.

It is produced by Borie-Manoux, a wine merchant whose origins started as a wine trading company that was established in 1870 by the Borie family. Today, Borie-Manoux is a significant wine merchant in the Bordeaux wine industry with a rich history and a diverse portfolio of estates. Borie-Manoux is currently owned and managed by the Castéja family, with Philippe Castéja as President.

Château Beau-Site is one of Borie-Manoux's Bordeaux wine estates. Situated in Saint-Estèphe, it was founded in the 18th century and is one of the oldest estates in the commune. At the time of its founding, it was part of Château Morin. Its name - Beau-Site - reflects its scenic location as it overlooks the entire vineyard and has magnificent panoramic views extending towards the Gironde river. Château Beau-Site's first owner was M. de Camiran, while in the 1860s it became the property of M. Grazilhon, at which point in time the name was changed to Château Beau-Site-Grazilhon.

The term "Cru Bourgeois" is used to describe wines of great quality and value, and graced the bottles of Château Beau-Site wines for the first time, starting in 1868. A few years later, the château was upgraded to Cru Bourgeois Supérieur, and continued until the 1990s. A change in ownership in the 1920s led to the château reverting to its original name, with Mme Faugeras managing the property for several decades before selling it in the 1940s to M. Legendre.

In 1955, Château Beau-Site joined the Borie family after it was acquired by Marcel Borie. Marcel worked hard to restore the château to its former glory, and as part of this restoration, all the wines were now made and aged on-site, with the vat room filled with wooden vats. Towards the end of the 1950s, Marcel took over Château Haut-Vignoble Seguin, a 5-hectare vineyard that now produces Château Beau-Site's second wine.

After Marcel Borie died in 1961, his son-in-law, Émile Castéja, took over the reins and over the ensuing decade Émile replaced the wooden vats with epoxy-coated metal vats. By the end of the 1980s, he had replaced some of the metal vats with stainless steel vats.

In 2001, Émile Castéja retired and was succeeded by his son, Philippe Castéja. Upon taking over, Philippe quickly began work on the Château by making a number of improvements, such as digging an underground passageway between the barrel cellar and the vat room to make it easier for visitors to get around. In 2005, the tasting room was set up at the entrance to the barrel cellar and offered a view over the estuary. In 2006, the vat room's interior was completely refurbished, while the Château was completely refurbished and refurnished so that it could accommodate the family of Chantal Preben-Hansen, Philippe Castéja's sister, as well as visitors.

Sustainable winemaking practices were initiated by Philippe when he took over, and developed them further from 2014 as he was able to convince the family and team that the environment was an integral part of the wines and important for consumers. Since that time, the Casteja family has continuously sought ways to increase their commitment to sustainable winemaking. With sustainability at the top of mind, traditional vineyard work is still carried out with precision to ensure the highest quality grapes. The old vines have been carefully preserved to produce distinguished and elegant wines comparable to those of its illustrious neighbour, Château Calon-Ségur. At the winery, precision winemaking is terroir-focused.

As Saint-Estèphe is part of the Médoc region and situated at the northern tip of the Haut-Médoc, on the Left Bank of the Gironde River in Bordeaux, the area has been planted with vines since Roman times, and further developed by English merchants from the Middle Ages onwards. The drainage of marshland in the 17th century led to further increases in surface land area and vineyards. The Saint-Estèphe AOC was officially recognized in 1936 thanks to its diverse climate and geology. The oceanic climate is temperate, but warm enough for the vines to thrive, while the soils are composed of gravelly alluvium, limestone, and oyster marl.

As the flagship of the estate, the 2018 vintage of this elegant wine is a blend of 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and 2% Petit Verdot. The grapes were traditionally picked by hand and sorted on tables in the vineyard, then transferred into tipping buckets which carry the grapes back to the winery. Each plot was vinified separately, fermentation occurring over four weeks in small-capacity, temperature-controlled vats, at fairly low temperatures. Gentle extractions help preserve the fruit, while allowing the terroir to express itself. Each plot was aged in French oak barrels (approx. 40% new) for 6 months, then blended and aged a further 12 months prior to bottling on-site.

From the excellent 2018 vintage, let's see how this 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend from Bordeaux is tasting tonight...

Tasting Note:

CHÂTEAU BEAU-SITE 2018 - AC Saint-Estèphe, Bordeaux, France (#647933) (XD) - $48.95
This blend of 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and 2% Petit Verdot has a rich, ripe, and brooding nose with medium-high to high intensity aromatics of dark red and black fruits, currant, cassis, and black cherry notes joined by spicy, fine wood spices, and sandalwood surrounding a core of savoury forest floor. On the dry, full-bodied bodied palate it is rich, spicy, and a touch warm with savoury earth, fine wood spice, blackcurrant, blackberry, black cherry, and graphite mineral flavours accented with dried herbs. Some licorice and clove spice notes appear on the mid-palate to add further interest. Acids are juicy and mouth-watering, while the refined, well-structured tannins have a gently chalky textured mouthfeel and are quite approachable at this stage. Savoury, graphite, and dried herb notes linger on the exceptionally long finish. Will improve further with age and enjoy into the mid-2030s. Highly recommended buy! Score: 93 pts

Other fine wines by Borie-Manoux can be ordered through their Agent - Noble Estates Wines & Spirits.