Left - inside Beaséjour. Right - Josephine Duffau Lagarrosse presents a barrel sample of 2022 vintage - April 2023
In 1847, Pierre-Paulin Ducarpe bought the property now known as Beausejour Duffau Lagarrosse. Before he died in 1869, he divided the property equally between his son and daughter. His son's part became Beau Sejour Becot, while his daughter's part became Beauséjour Duffau Lagarrose after she married a Duffau Lagarrosse male. The property has remained in the same family for over 150 years.
Beauséjour is situated on a hill and slope just outside the village of Saint-Émilion, and is close to Canon and Beau Sejour Becot. The vineyard comprises 6.5 hectares of land, planted with 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc. The vines are, on average, 50 years old. The soil is mostly clay on the bed of whole and crushed limestones.
In 1990, Beauséjour gained fame after receiving a 100-point rating from wine critic Robert Parker. The 1990 vintage is a benchmark for the property. During my visit to Beauséjour in May 1998, Jean-Michel Dubos, the winemaker at the time, stated that the combination of weather, grape quality, grape ripeness, and the perfect timing of the harvest made the 1990 vintage so exceptional. He left the property in 2012.
After 1990, the property experienced a period of inconsistency. In 2009, the heirs of Duffau Lagarrosse hired Nicolas Thienpont, David Suire, and oenologist Stephane Derenencourt to improve the quality of the wine. The quality quickly improved under the new winemaking staff. Vintages from 2018 to 2020 echoed the success of the 1990 vintage.
Nicolas Thienpont and David Suire continued to work at the property until 2021, with the 2019 vintage being the last one they made together. They also made the final blend of the 2020 vintage.
In April 2021, 30 members of the Duffau Lagarrosse family put Beauséjour up for sale. After receiving initial bids from the Cuvellier family of nearby Clos Fourtet and Stephanie Rivoal-Bouard from Angelus, it was Josephine Duffau Lagarrosse, the granddaughter of the previous owner, who purchased the property with financial backing from the Clarins Investment Fund, which her friend, Prisca Courtin-Clarins, runs.
She arrived at the property in April 2021, having previously worked for Bernard Magrez. Before that, she gained extensive winemaking experience in Napa Valley, New Zealand, and Mexico, and worked with Maxime Cheurlin at Domaine Georges Noëllat in Vosne-Romanée.
Josephine Duffau Lagarrosse corrected the blend of the 2020 vintage, which was initially done by Nicolas Thienpont and David Suire, by adding more Cabernet Franc at the expense of Merlot. 2021 was the first vintage she made entirely by herself. She is an ambitious winemaker with many plans to improve the quality of Beausejour Duffau Lagarrosse. She applied to have the property upgraded in the revised classification published in September 2022, but it remained a PGCC "B," which it has been since 2006.
Since arriving at Beauséjour, Josephine Duffau Lagarrosse has received advice from two consultants: Axel Marchal, a professor of enology at Bordeaux University, and Julien Viaud, an oenologist from Michel Rolland Consulting.
A new label was introduced in vintage 2021, featuring a different picture, and the line "Heritiers Duffau-Lagarrosse" was replaced with "J. Duffau-Lagarrosse".
There is a second wine, Croix de Beauséjour, but it's produced only in selected vintages.
The wine produced at Beauséjour is a perfect blend of power and elegance. It is multi-layered and sophisticated, opulent and delicate, vibrant and luscious, and a great delicacy to enjoy for many years. It is among the finest wines in Saint-Émilion.
Beauséjour has a great and informative website to take a look at: https://beausejour-jdl.com/
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2023 (barrel sample) 98-99p
Tasted in April 2024. Josephine Duffau-Lagarrosse continues her fairy tale. She produced exceptional wine in 2023, agonizingly close to her stunning effort in 2022. This wine comprises 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc, with 14% ABV. The nose is utterly expressive and fragrant, with scents of black cherries, violets, and iris. It is pure, graceful, elegant, and sophisticated on the palate. The wine has excellent acidity, a great mid-palate, and silky fruit embraced with velvety tannins that gently caress your taste buds. The finish is long and mesmerizing, and the wine tells you to come back for more!
2022 98-100p
I tasted it three times - last time in February 2025. Consistent notes. The soil here, a limestone-based one, is exceptional, and during the hot summer of 2022, it cooled the vines with fantastic results! For me, 2022 marks a shift towards a more elegant, refined, and sophisticated style compared to vintages 2019, 2018, and 2016. A wine with a well-integrated mix of finesse and power, minerality, Burgundian delicacy, and the opulence of highly esteemed Grand Cru wines from Chambolle-Musigny, Gevrey-Chambertin, and Vosne-Romanée. The blend for the 2022 vintage features 10% more Cabernet Franc than in previous vintages: 69% Merlot and 31% Cabernet Franc. The Merlot harvest took place from September 6th to 9th, and the Cabernet Franc was collected on September 23rd. The ABV is 14.9%, but you can’t detect it while tasting. This is a remarkable achievement and a testament to Josephine Duffau Lagarrosse's exceptional winemaking skills. Bravo!! When tasted in October 2024 and February 2025, after bottling, it fulfilled all the promises made during the barrel tasting.
2021 95+p
Tasted three times - last time in October 2024. Consistent notes. 79% Merlot + 21% C. Franc, 13.5% alcohol. The frost didn't affect the vineyard. Harvest was finished relatively late, in mid-October, with the C. Franc perfectly ripe. This is the first vintage made 100% by Josephine Duffau Lagarrosse. Dark red, fresh, pure, and mineral, with notes of violets, roses, and raspberries. It shone through as precise, focused, and had superb mid-palate structure and length. It's more complex and longer compared to the one I tasted last year. It was quite an achievement for her first vintage. A great future awaits!
2020 98+p
Tasted twice - last time in April 2023. Consistent notes. 79% Merlot + 21% C. Franc. It was fascinating to taste it alongside the 2019 and 2018 vintages in November 2021. This wine was similarly stupendous when tasted from the bottle in April 2023. It is similar to 2022, which I tasted on the same occasion. Creamy berries and silky tannin. Multilayered, sophisticated, and seamless. It has a fabulous structure, mid-palate, and a superb finish. Fantastic effort.
2019 97-98p
Tasted twice - last time in November 2021. Consistent notes. I wrote in June 2021 after tasting a barrel sample of 2019 BDL. "It's a beautiful effort! It had a great nose with a remarkable intensity of black cherries, dark chocolate, and cocoa powder. It was rich on the palate, with high complexity and a sophisticated touch, finishing with a luxurious and lingering aftertaste. This wine oozes sheer class! It was impressively identical to the bottle from November 2021 and had some elegance as well.
2018 98+p
I tasted it twice in 2021 from the bottle. Consistent notes. It's a badass, sublime wine. High-class nose with a riveting intensity of black cherries, grated chocolate, and mocha, creamy on the palate with exquisitely grained tannins, extraordinary complexity, a sophisticated touch, and a lingering finish that lasts over 60 seconds.
2017 (barrel sample) 95p
It was tasted in April 2018. It is fresh and oaky, with a wealth of dark berries, juiciness, length, silky tannins, elegance, and a splendid structure. It has a delicate complexity and a persistent finish. This is a strong performance for the vintage.
2016 (barrel sample) 95p
I tasted it in April 2017. It boasts an excellent nose of black fruit, a velvety texture, excellent acidity, a well-composed palate, and is remarkably complex and refined. It is a stupendous effort.
2010 (barrel sample) 96p
I tasted it in April 2012. The nose and palate have intense aromas of black cherries with excellent purity, structure, and length. This is a fantastic effort.
2009 94p
Tasted twice - last time in April 2012. Consistent notes.Almost a twin brother of 2010. It is less complex, however, and without the grace and lusciousness of 2010.
2008 93-94p
I tasted it twice, the last time in April 2012. It has consistent notes. I liked it a lot! It has an aromatic and deep nose of black cherries and raspberries. It is sappy, vibrant, long, and complex, with fine acidity, structure, and a meaty finish.
2005 93+p
I tasted it twice, the last time in April 2012. It has consistent notes. It is full-bodied and delicate, with aromas of perfectly ripe berries, a rock-solid structure, and significant depth and length on the palate. It was a splendid effort.
2000 94p
I tasted it in April 2003. It was a stylish wine from the traditional winemaking school, characterized by aromas of dark berries, a splendid composition, fine length, and remarkable balance. It can be kept for many years.
1990 93-100p?
This vintage is the birth year of the present owner, Josephine Duffau-Lagarrosse. The bottle of this wine, tasted in December 2016, was disappointing in the context of its fame. I've tasted it a few times earlier, and it was much better, with breathtaking complexity, richness, length, and finish. The first time I tasted it (in 1993), I gave it 100 points. Delicate in complexity, but lacking striking concentration and richness. Was my bottle closed on the tasting day or a bit faulty? I've got one bottle left in my cellar and will keep it for a vertical tasting in the near future. I hope it'll show its true colors then!!
1918 96p
I sampled this chateau bottling in November 2018 during the memorable 100th anniversary of the end of the 1st World War tasting in Copenhagen. It had a vibrant aroma of black fruit, a thick texture on the palate, and a long and still fresh finish with excellent balance and complexity. It ended with a smooth, fruity finish. The wine was vibrant and full of life - indeed, a 100-year-old meditation wine. It was absolutely fabulous!
It was a fantastic and sublime experience in November 2018!
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Link to Wine-Searcher's Chateau Beausejour page - click here