Château Beauséjour

One of the finest vineyards of Montagne Saint-Emilion

Château Beauséjour is proudly placed on the final point of the Montagne Village, south / southwest which also allows him to have a draining soil .

Château Beauséjour was created in 1851. However the building was built on the foundations of an older property that counted in its finest timed with almost 48 hectares.

Currently the winery is owned by Pierre Bernault.

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Video Fr & En

Focus on Pierre Bernault

Parisian who made a career in the IT sector (CEA, Microsoft …). In 2004 he decided to change his life and make one of those old dreams return to the countryside life. In “peasant birth ” effect he spent much of his childhood in the countryside of the Ariege region and a hut at the edge of the ocean. Wishing to leave the capital and be close to the sea and the countryside and seduced by the idea of the vineyard he formed the project to have a property in Bordeaux. Little by little, the project came to the region and became a family project .

To prepare for his conversion he left to form the school in Beaune 1yr half which enabled him to discover the wine, the terroir and the wine grower.

vert-de-vin-chateau-beausejour-12 After 18 months of fruitless search he discovered the Château Beauséjour and had a real « coup de cœur ». Not wanting to buy just for a « coup de cœur » and on the advice of a friend he contacted Stéphane Derenoncourt (winemaker) for advice on the property, its soil and its potential. One week after the famous oenologist recontacted him and advised him to buy if it because this property was a “real gem “. He also asked him to become his consultant oenologist .

vert-de-vin-chateau-beausejour After that Pierre Bernault bought the property (2004) and engaged in extensive restructuring both in terms of the vine production tools. The vineyard had been poorly conducted (over-treatment, over-production, non-replacement of dead vines, abandoned cellars …) that necessitated a lot of investment both financially and in a human level. But gradually nature has acted allowing the soil and the vineyard to become clean.

What does Pierre Bernault looks for each year during the vinification / making of these wines?

vert-de-vin-chateau-beausejour-2 “No excess, no exuberance but also optimal maturity. What is really important to me is to not over-extract. That wines be powerful but gentle, persistent and aromatic. In the tasting people tell me often that they feel they have a nice Burgundy finish.

The most important thing is that my wine makes you want to come back.” (Pierre Bernault)

What is the Beauséjour Cuvée 1901 ?

vert-de-vin-chateau-beausejour-10 “It starts in September 2005, when Stéphane Derenoncourt just taste the grapes. He replied that it was dripping exceptional, he had tasted such grapes as two or three times in his life.“

The grapes came from one of the oldest piece of property planted in 1901 with a variety of Cabernet that no longer exists but has a unique genetic heritage. This parcel offers a clay-limestone soil with basement 50 cm bedrock. The root is deep which allows the vine to dive deep to draw the nutrients it needs. Pierre Bernault therefore naturally desired vinify separately to make a full batch and so therefore promote these fabulous grapes.

Some features:

12 hectares of which 3 hectares of old vines planted in 1901
Soil: limestone, clay and limestone bedrock
Grape varieties: 70% Merlot and 30 % Cabernet Franc
Vineyard conducted in farming : plowing, mechanical weeding, tillage with a horse, budding, double Guyot, green harvesting, handpicking and crates, manual sorting ….
Product 4 wines : Château Beauséjour (AOC Montagne Saint-Emilion), Château Beauséjour 1901 (AOC Montagne Saint-Emilion), Le Charme de Beauséjour (AOC Montagne Saint-Emilion) and Château Beauséjour Cuvée Clos l’Eglise (AOC Montagne Saint-Emilion), B Beauséjour (AOC Montagne Saint-Emilion)

Side anecdote :

vert-de-vin-chateau-beausejour-6 The genetic heritage of the 1901 vineyards is so exceptional that the Alain Vauthier (Ausone, 1er Grand Cru Classé A of Saint-Emilion) proposed to Pierre Bernault (Château Beauséjour) to collaborate with him to save these plants. With the help ampelographers selections clones were performed on these very old plants to be able to reproduce and replant the vineyards of these two properties.

Side tasting : (March 2014)

Château Beauséjour Cuvée 1901 – Montagne Saint-Emilion – 2012: This wine is a blend of 50 % Merlot and 50 % Cabernet Franc. It is aged for 18 months in barrel with 80 % new oak. An elegant nectar, intense, deep and with a finesse of fruit. The nose is fruity, fresh, delicious and elegant. It expresses notes of ripe black fruits (especially black cherry and blackberry) and associated with a few spices and a slight hint of cocoa in the background flowers. The palate is fresh , complex, wide , intense, offers a fairly dense matter and expresses notes of fleshy fruits associated with some small red fruits (gooseberry). Good balance in the mouth. Long finish. A « favorite wine » :heart: :heart: :heart:

To accompany this wine, I suggest you charcuterie or a beef tartare.

Le Charme de Beauséjour – Montagne Saint-Emilion – 2007 : This wine is assembled from a 70 % Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc. The nose is fruity and fresh. It expresses a gourmet blend of black fruit (cherry, blackcurrant …), red fruit (especially cherry and raspberry) The palate is well balanced and fruity. Presence of a small wooded area in the background which does not take precedence over the fruit. The tannins are well integrated and silky.