VN9494 pts. - Vinous - Feb 2024
The 2021 Beychevelle is elegant, understated and classy. Medium in body and less overt than most recent years, the 2021 is impeccably balanced from start to finish. Dark-toned fruit, gravel, menthol, licorice, spice and new oak build nicely with a bit of time in the glass. This is incredibly harmonious. (Antonio Galloni)
JD93+93+ pts. - Jeb Dunnuck - 4/3/2024
Clearly a star in the vintage, the 2021 Château Beychevelle is showing even better from bottle than barrels, revealing a dense purple hue as well as gorgeous notes of crème de cassis, spicy oak, smoked tobacco, and iron. Based on 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot, and the rest Cabernet Franc, aged in 70% new oak, it’s medium to full-bodied, has a concentrated, layered mouthfeel, beautiful overall balance, and a great finish. It needs 4–5 years to integrate its oak but will easily evolve for two decades. It’s a pure, layered, incredibly impressive 2021 that has tons to love, and I’d certainly be thrilled to have bottles in the cellar. (Jeb Dunnuck)
RP92+92+ pts. - Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate - 8th Feb 2024
The 2021 Beychevelle opens in the glass with notes of sweet berry compote, plums and creamy new oak, followed by a medium to full-bodied, fleshy palate with an unusually sweet core of fruit for the vintage, framed by plenty of chewy tannin, and concluding with a vanillin-inflected finish. (William Kelley)
