Chateau Beausejour Duffau-Lagarrosse 2021

JAMES SUCKLING: "Fascinating depth and complexity with beautifully knit fruit and oak spices. Glossy, bright but subtle, with lightly smoked herbs, berries, white pepper, mineral, high-grade wood and pencil shavings. Medium to full body with juicy fruit and minerals tapping into an extremely long and layered finish. So much finesse here. Lasting well over a minute. A stunning wine from the vintage."

DECANTER: "Pink floral and raspberry aromas, fragrant red cherries and just-ripe strawberries. Incredibly well textured, alive and forward in the glass, this has energy and lift. A really pure and precise bite to the fruit with excellent acidity and style. A delicious, moreish wine, revealing layers of flavour and texture with lovely gentle acidity and a soft, cooling menthol minerality that lingers."

LISA PERROTTI-BROWN: "The 2021 Beausejour Duffau-Lagarrosse has a medium to deep garnet-purple color. It reveals evocative notes of black raspberries, kirsch, and juicy blackberries, leading to nuances of violets and aniseed. The medium-bodied palate is wonderfully perfumed and lively, with plush tannins and a long mineral-laced finish. Seriously impressive!"

WEINWISSER: "Ein Teil der Familie, von der Joséphine Duffau Lagarosse ihren Anteil abkaufte, wollte der alten Namensführung ‚Héritières Duffau Lagarosse‘ nicht zustimmen. Daher ist das neue Etikett nur mit dem Namen Château Beauséjour ausgestattet, unter der Nennung der neuen Teil- Eigentümerin J. Duffau Lagarosse. So sind nun Ross und Reiter deutlich erkennbar. Der erste Jahrgang der energischen Joséphine kann sich sehen lassen. Kompliment! Superfein und differenziert in der Nase, sehr dunkelfruchtig und frisch. Dicht und konzentriert, erscheint er sehr kalkig im Mund, mit klarer, ewig langer Struktur, sehr komplex und linear. Erst nach hinten zeigt er seine Intensität und likörige Fülle, denn Joséphine möchte das Mittelstück dem einzigartigen Terroir überlassen. Totale Saftigkeit und Balance, superfeinkörnige Gerbstoffe und rassiges Finale. Besser als viele Jahrgänge der ‚Héritières‘."

JEB DUNNUCK: "The 2021 Château Beausejour (Duffau-Lagarrosse) checks in as 63% Merlot and 27% Cabernet Franc that was harvested between September 30 and October 14 and was raised in 58% new French oak for 14 months, with the wine spending a few months in tank before bottling. It has a healthy ruby/purple hue as well as an incredible bouquet of black raspberries, ripe cherries, graphite, crushed stone, and hints of spicy herbs. This beauty is medium to full-bodied, has remarkable density on the mid-palate, and ultra-fine tannins. It's clearly in the top handful of wines in the vintage, offering density, terrific purity, and fabulous length. It's never going to be a blockbuster, but it’s an incredibly elegant, seamless wine that will have two decades or more of longevity. Bravo."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The 2021 Beauséjour (Duffau Lagarrosse) is the first vintage made by Joséphine Duffau Lagarrosse since she took back control of the family estate (arriving on April 12, 2021), and both the vintage and her vision for the property aligned to favor a blend of 73% Merlot and 27% Cabernet Franc—the highest percentage of Cabernet since the early 2000s (when some Cabernet Sauvignon was included in the blend too). The wine has turned out very well in bottle, offering up aromas of raspberries and cherries mingled with rose petals and spices, framed by a touch of creamy new oak. Medium to full-bodied, pure and layered, it exhibits excellent depth at the core, built around lively acids and polished tannins, and concludes with a long, mineral and gently vanillin-inflected finish that's discreetly structured by its élevage. This wonderful clay-limestone terroir really shines through, as does the Cabernet Franc; and with some 68% new oak, foremost from Cadus and Taransaud, it's already less overtly creamy than this estate's wines were a decade ago, even if oak integration could be further refined."

FALSTAFF: "Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung. Zarte Kräuterwürze, schwarze Waldbeeren, frische Herzkirschen, ein Hauch von exotischen Gewürzen, zart nach Lakritze. Saftig, elegant, rote Beerenfrucht, frisch und mineralisch, feine, reife Tannine, salzig-zitronig, delikater und leichtfüßiger Wein mit sicherem Reifepotenzial."