Château Beau-Séjour Bécot

The château

Beauséjour was one estate until 1869, and a highly placed one. In the list of Saint-Émilion growths drawn up in 1841, which Charles Cocks reprinted in 1850, it stands in the first class of the Haut-Saint-Émilion under Troquart at 30 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), and William Franck, whose Traité sur les vins du Médoc first appeared in 1824, placed it in 1853, under Ducarpe, among the wines of the first marque, his top rank. In 1868 it was 15 hectares beside Canon, planted only with the Cabernets, Merlot and Noir de Pressac. The next year Pierre-Paulin Ducarpe divided it between his 2 children. The son’s half passed to Dr Fagouet in 1924 and carried his name until Michel Bécot bought it in 1969.

The first classification of 1955 ranked the property a Premier Grand Cru Classé B. In 1979 Michel Bécot added 2 neighboring classified growths, La Carte and Les Trois Moulins, which the old books had printed as first growths in their own right, and the classification of 1986 placed Beau-Séjour Bécot among the Grands Crus Classés. The list of 1996 returned it to Premier Grand Cru Classé B, and it was confirmed in 2012 and again in September 2022, among the 14 Premiers Grands Crus Classés. Gérard and Dominique Bécot followed their father; Julien Barthe is managing director, and Juliette Bécot, of the new generation, runs communications.

The 22 hectares lie on the limestone plateau of Saint-Martin de Mazerat, clay and limestone over limestone rock, planted 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, vines 45 years old on average. Under the vines, Michel Bécot turned 7 hectares of worked-out quarries into cellars; new vat rooms and aging cellars opened in 2023. The harvest is picked by hand and fermented in stainless steel, and the first wine spends about 16 months in new barrels, amphorae and large casks. The estate makes about 80,000 bottles a year, and Petit Bécot is the second wine.

The 1996, the vintage of the comeback, carries the word Premier back on its label. When I tasted it in January 2026 it was composed and quietly confident, the fruit turned savory, dried plum, cedar and a touch of graphite, with the limestone keeping it upright and fresh: a wine that rewards patience rather than performing for attention. The 1994, which I tasted in December 2025, came from a cooler, more traditional era and had the charm of maturity: gentle red fruit, tobacco leaf, hints of truffle.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

Commune

Saint-Émilion, on the Saint-Martin de Mazerat plateau

Classification

Premier Grand Cru Classé B, 1955, 1996, 2012 and 2022; Grand Cru Classé in 1986; Michelin Guide, 2 grapes (2026)

Owners

The Bécot family, since 1969

Direction

Julien Barthe, managing director; Gérard and Dominique Bécot; Juliette Bécot

Vineyard

22 hectares; vines 45 years old on average

Soil

Clay and limestone over limestone rock, with 7 hectares of old quarries beneath, cut into cellars Terroir of Saint-Émilion →

Grapes

Merlot 80%, Cabernet Franc 15%, Cabernet Sauvignon 5%

Cellar

Picked by hand; stainless steel; about 16 months in new barrels, amphorae and large casks; new vat rooms and aging cellars in 2023

Production

About 80,000 bottles a year

Wines

Château Beau-Séjour Bécot; Petit Bécot

In history

First class of the Haut-Saint-Émilion in the list of 1841, at 30 tonneaux, as one estate with Château Beauséjour