Chateau Beausejour Heritiers Duffau-Lagarrosse 2012

Tasting characteristics and recommendations for Château Beauséjour Héritiers Duffau-Lagarrosse 2012

Tasting

Appearance
The wine displays a brick-red hue with bright highlights, revealing a medium intensity typical of an elegant evolution.

Nose
The nose reveals lovely aromatic complexity with notes of ripe plum, griotte cherry and strawberry. These are joined by nuances of blond tobacco, nutmeg and woody spices, accompanied by subtle hints of forest floor that lend a mineral, earthy dimension to the whole.

Palate
On the palate, this wine charms with its freshness and elegance. The texture is rich and aromatic, carried by fine, refined tannins. Its medium-bodied structure offers a fine balance between fruit concentration and vibrancy, while the mineral characteristics of the limestone terroir are expressed particularly mid-palate. The long, lingering finish extends on aromas of black fruit and leather.

Food and wine pairings
This wine pairs perfectly with grilled or roasted red meats such as a rib steak or a dry-aged bone-in rib steak. It also elegantly complements preparations of roast lamb, duck breast or feathered game birds such as pheasant cooked in a casserole. Mushroom lovers will especially appreciate the pairing with porcini, while a platter of aged cheeses such as Saint-Nectaire or Comté will reveal the wine’s full complexity.

Serving and cellaring
It is recommended to serve Château Beauséjour 2012 at a temperature between 14 and 18°C, ideally around 15.5°C. Decanting for one to two hours before serving will help soften the tannins and fully release the aromas. This wine can be enjoyed now and will continue to evolve favorably until around 2035.

An elegant, mineral Premier Grand Cru Classé from Saint-Émilion

The estate
Founded in 1797 when Jacques de Carles named the Beauséjour estate, Château Beauséjour (Duffau-Lagarrosse) is a Premier Grand Cru Classé from Saint-Émilion, on Bordeaux’s Right Bank. Its 6.80-hectare vineyard lies on clay-limestone soils and asteriated limestone from the limestone plateau, worked by hand, with vines around 45 years old. Since April 2021, the estate has been owned by Joséphine Duffau-Lagarrosse, in partnership with the Courtin family (Clarins Group), which she co-manages.

The vineyard
The Château Beauséjour vineyard benefits from a privileged location on the highest slopes of the limestone plateau of Saint-Émilion, with optimal south and south-west exposure. The clay-limestone soils and asteriated limestone give the wine its distinctive mineral signature. The vines average 45 years of age.

The vintage
The 2012 vintage in Bordeaux proved generally good despite contrasting weather conditions. After a mild winter, spring saw localized episodes of frost and hail, followed by an uneven summer with irregular sunshine distribution. These conditions demanded rigorous vineyard management and precise decisions regarding harvest dates. The most meticulous producers were able to make the most of this vintage to craft elegant, refined wines, favoring finesse over concentration.

Winemaking and aging
The Château Beauséjour 2012 harvest was carried out by hand with rigorous berry selection. Parcel-by-parcel vinification took place in temperature-controlled vats with controlled pump-overs and extended maceration to optimize the extraction of phenolic compounds. Aging lasted between 16 and 18 months in French oak barrels, 55 to 60% of which were new, allowing harmonious integration of oak notes while preserving fruit expression and the terroir’s minerality.

Grape varieties
Merlot (80%)
Cabernet franc (20%)