Vineyards at Chateau Beau-Séjour Bécot in St Emilion

The wines of St Emilion felt less promising than I remember tasting a couple of years back in 2009 at UGC. Again dryness to the tannins here and a forced/overly worked style of winemaking seemed the main [and considerable] drawback. That said a few looked pretty good and had harmony and balance. Others too thick and extracted. Those that opted for elegance over extraction have fared the lest, like Chateau Figeac, as usual, and Chateau Canon and Chateau Magdelaine.

Chateau Balestard La Tonnelle

Deep core; red at edge; some boiled sweet, earth and red fruits with lift; pretty simple; some raisin; red fruits on the palate with toffee notes. Chewy. This is OK but lacks sophistication. 85/100

Chateau Beau Séjour-Bécot

Deep centre; meaty notes alongside mineral tones; feels quite compact on the nose; some depth and thickness here; meat and weight to the palate; some sourness too; chewy wine with dryish tannin. 86/100

Chateau Canon

Deep centre; red fruits, some meal and mineral tones; feels quite pent up; dense palate with some sweetness [red fruits] and chalkiness; tannin on the finish. A pretty good effort but less thrilling than I remember. 88/100

Chateau Cap de Mourlin

Dark black at centre; thick and resinous nose; blackcurrants and tar; thick palate with lots of density and chewy tannin. Feels a little tiring. 86/100

Chateau Corbin

Black and extracted looking; colour tight to the rim; more ripe red fruits here; lifted and figgy; feels seriously worked [almost Canon-La-Gaffeliere style]; thick and oaky palate bit over-the-top and very tannic on the finish. 86/100

Chateau Dassault

Deep and dense; lifted and leafy and far more appetizing; earth and tobacco notes; not unattractive with a meaty edge; some herbaceousness here but not off putting, quite the opposite; red fruits on the palate along with the leaf; firm and rather dry tannins but not that bad an effort. 86+/100

Chateau Figeac

Deepish; freshness on the nose; leaf and tobacco; attractive and quite forward style on the nose; grip on the palate; lots of peat and earth; some harmony here and not at all forced – in keeping with the vintage. Lightish but has harmony and digestibility. 88/100

Chateau Grand Mayne

Deep and fat looking in the glass; rasin and fig – on the superripe end of things; lifted and some VA notes; thick palate with black fruits and molasses and tar notes; OK in its way but not much fun for me. 85/100

Chateau Haut Corbin

Deepish; full nose, rich with earthy notes, tobacco and spices, but doesn’t feel overdone; coming together on the palate, OKish and goodish effort. 86+/100

Chateau La Couspaude

Thick and deep looking; some satin and rasin; meaty edge; rocks; thickish; quite saturated in flavour; almost Chateauneuf. Chewy and tannic but there is enough fruit. 86+/100

Chateau La Gaffelière

Deep and dark at centre; red fruits and some leaf; some stony, mineral notes with coffee at edge; stalky blackcurrant palate; chewy and a little foursquare; bit compact and tannin very dry on the finish. Tricky to judge. 84-86?/100

Chateau La Tour Figeac

Deepish colour; ripe, opulent and sexy on the nose; upfront and lifted; thick and dense and pretty tannic on the palate. Too much extraction here and feels very dry. 86?/100

Chateau Magdelaine

Deep and dark central core; red fruits; feels fresh, some thickness and richness; some red strawberyy fruit too; black fruits on the palate; pretty rich and also thick but retains surprising harmony. Good length. Nice grip and bite and this works. Excellent effort. 90/100

Chateau Petit Faurie de Soutard

Deep and arterial; superripe and raisiny – almost liquorice Pontefract cakes here; feels overdone and rthick; feels dry and very extracted on the palate. Tannic. 84?/100

Chateau Trottevielle

Deep and dark; satiny and ripe Cabernet Franc nose; blackcurrants on palate and some density and layers here. Chewy wine with density. Goodish effort. 87+/100