1998 Chateau Beau-Sejour Becot St Emilion Grand Cru

BEST VINTAGE EVER FOR RIGHT BANK GRAND CRU CLASSÉ

While Parker may not get everything right, we tend to agree with him that this bottling of Beau-Sejour Becot may be the "finest Becot (we) have ever tasted). The 1998 vintage was a tale of two vintages in Bordeaux. It was spotty in the Médoc along the Left Bank of Bordeaux, but the story was different just across the water. For two decades now, the 1998 has been pitted against sommeliers, critics and top collectors, and each time the conclusion is the same. The wines from the Right Bank appellations of Saint-Émilion and Pomerol in 1998 should be placed on the same pedestal alongside other iconic vintages like 1982,1990, 2000, 2009, and 2010.

That being said, here's what special about Beauséjour Bécot. The estate is a Grand Cru Classé B, and was established as such in 1996 after huge leaps of quality during the early 1990s as Michel Rolland joined as a consultant. Within the appellation, the estate sits in the psychological and physical heart of Saint-Émilion, on the shallow soils of its limestone plateau known for making the region's most complex and age-worthy bottlings. Its neighbors are impressive too. To the south less than 100 meters separate it from the boundaries of first growth Grand Cru Classé A Château Angelus, whose 1998 release would cost you more than $500. The style here during this period was opulent, ripe, and well endowed with oak spice and tannin. The estate's poor Astéries limestone soils produce wines that are austere when young, but hugely complex with bottle-aging. Even at 20+ years old, this wines concentration, power, and copious intensity are still singing in balance.