Beauséjour Duffau-lagarrosse - Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2014

Vinous

90

byNeal Martinthe4/2/2024

The 2014 Beauséjour Héritiers Duffau-Lagarrosse feels advanced on the nose, not in a negative way, less minerally than four years ago, with scents of hickory and leather complementing the melted red fruit. One would think that it comes from a warmer season. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, slightly powdery in texture, and cooked meats filter through the savory red fruit. This Saint-Émilion has definitely moved on in recent years, hence my shortened drinking window. It remains pleasurable, yet is perhaps in decline as the second bottle tasted blind and came across more mean on the finish.

Vinous

93

byNeal Martinthe3/28/2018

The 2014 Beauséjour Héritiers Duffau-Lagarrosse is a perplexing wine just after bottling but it appears to have settled. Here, it has a gorgeous bouquet with fine mineral-driven red berry fruit, a slight floral scent developing with time. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannin, quite stocky and full in the mouth, tightening in towards the finish but retaining freshness and vibrancy. This Saint-Émilion is loaded with potential. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

Jeb DUNNUCK

94

byJeb Dunnuckthe11/30/2017

While I wasn’t able to taste the 2015, the 2014 Château Beausejour Duffau-Lagarrosse is fabulous stuff and well worth seeking out. Made from close to 100% Merlot (there’s a splash of Cabernet Franc) and offering classic notes of damp earth, tobacco leaf, blackcurrants, and beautiful minerality, this beauty hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a terrific core of fruit, and more texture and opulence than most in the vintage. It will keep for 20-25 years.

Wine Advocate

91

byNeal Martinthe3/31/2017

The 2014 Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse) was an intriguing and quite mercurial Saint Emilion when I tasted it from barrel. Now in bottle, it has developed a quite compelling bouquet, very pure with black cherries, iodine, potpourri and crushed violets. The intensity is very impressive. The palate is medium-bodied with almost rigid tannin. This is a masculine wine, perhaps one that has closed down after bottle since it was so expressive from barrel. It is much more linear than I was expecting, even with a touch of hardness on the finish. It is a rather enigmatic Saint Emilion, one tricky to pin down at the moment. Hopefully more flesh will surface with bottle age and just balance out that strict finish. Let's see where this will go. Certainly I would not broach this for a few years. 91?

Jamessuckling.com

94

byJames Sucklingthe2/16/2017

So layered with a lovely richness of chocolate, wet earth and spices, not to mention plum character. Full-bodied, tight and focused. Needs five to six years to open, but it’s a structured and beautiful wine already.

Wine Spectator

94

byJames Molesworththe2/8/2017

This is full of muscular graphite and tobacco notes, holding sway over a core of slightly exotic mulled fig and warm black currant sauce. A ganache edge lines the finish, but a pure fruit detail echoes longest. This will be exceptional when the elements meld fully. Best from 2022 through 2035. 1,335 cases made.

Vinous

97

byAntonio Gallonithe2/6/2017

An utterly spellbinding wine, the 2014 Beauséjour Héritiers Duffau-Lagarrosse is also one of the unqualified successes of the vintage. Beams of tannin give the 2014 its ample, broad feel. Inky red cherry, blueberry, smoke, leather and tobacco fill out the wine's big frame effortlessly. Layers of intense fruit meld into a huge spine of tannin in a vertical, massively structured Saint-Émilion. So many 2014s are charming and accessible, but this is not one of them. Readers will have to be patient.

Vinous

94-97

byAntonio Gallonithe5/11/2015

Power and finesse collide in the 2014 Beauséjour Héritiers Duffau-Lagarrosse, a breathtaking, vertical wine that hits all the right notes. Sweet black cherries, smoke, licorice and tar are some of the many notes that flesh out. The 2014 is quite dark and brooding in personality. I imagine the 2014 will drink beautifully for decades, although it is also going to need quite a bit of time to fully come together. There is so much to like here. Tiny yields in the Cabernet Franc resulted in a Beauséjour with more Merlot than is the norm. The 2014 is magnificent. It's as simple as that. In 2014, the blend is 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc, all brought in between October 6 and 15.

The Wine Cellar Insider

94-96

byJeff Levethe5/5/2015

Licorice, stone, smoke, truffle, flowers and black raspberries create the multifaceted bouquet. On the palate, this wine plays like a goddess -- sensuous, sexy, and sleek. It tastes as good as it feels with velvety tannins and sweet, luscious, fresh red and dark red fruits. Produced from a blend of 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc, the wine reached 14.2% with a pH 3.5. 94-96 Pts

Wine Advocate

90-92

byNeal Martinthe4/30/2015

The Château Beauséjour Duffau-Lagarrosse 2014 is a blend of 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc cropped at 39 hectoliters per hectare picked from 6 until 15 October. It represents 56% of the total production this year. Matured in 55% new oak, it actually has quite a laid-back, lighter bouquet than I was expecting, especially compared to the Pavie-Macquin '14. Giving it 5 minutes to open, it develops greater fruit intensity thanks to scents of macerated black cherries, dark plum and allspice. The palate is medium-bodied on the entry, bridled with marmalade and white pepper notes intermixed with the lush red fruit. There is impressive tension and weight here, an appetizing crescendo of flavors and a twist of bitter cherry on the finish. There is a feral element that keeps drawing you back to this complex Saint Emilion that may warrant a higher score after bottling.

Jamessuckling.com

93-94

byJames Sucklingthe4/10/2015

A wonderful finish to this wine with a full body. Compacted and tight with beautiful ripe fruit and mineral undertones. Some walnut character too.

timatkin.com

92

byTim Atkin MWthe4/7/2015

René Gabriel

18

byRené Gabrielthe4/1/2015

95 % Merlot, 5 % Cabernet Franc. Produktion: ca. 17'000 Flaschen. Sattes Purpur-Granat, dicht in der Mitte, lila Schimmer aussen. Das Bouquet beginnt mit floralen Noten, wechselt dann zu Waldbeeren und zeigt eine minime, aber wirklich nur minime kompottartige Süsse. Im Innern und im Untergrund mit schönen Würznoten bestückt. Samtiger Gaumen, die schmeichelnden Tannine sind inden Samtpfoten drin, langes, aromatisches Finale. War er in der Nase vielleicht immer ersten Moment etwas schwierig anzugehen, so offenbart er im Gaumen seine Grösse und Klasse. Dieser BDL ist nicht mit seinen heissen und extrem hoch gelobten Jahrgängen 1990 und 2009 zu vergleichen. Aber das hindert mich nicht, ihn als fast ganz grossen Premier zu loben. Das wird ein Fest in etwa 12 Jahren. Vom seinem Stil her eher etwas für den René als für den Roby… 18/20 2024 – 2040

Bettane & Desseauve

93-94

by Bettane & Desseauvethe4/1/2015

Grande race profonde, la personnalité du cru, toujours ferme et vive, avec un supplément de nuances et d’âme qui en fait une réussite majeure.

Wine Spectator

93-96

byJames Molesworththe3/30/2015

Juicy and dense, with lots of blueberry, dark plum and blackberry fruit, studded with anise and backed by a lightly bramblyfinish. Hedonistic and engaging, this should be fun to watch fill out fully.