Château Beauséjour 2023

Joséphine Duffau Lagarrosse’s third vintage at this terrific hillside terroir is her most impressive to date. The 2023 Beauséjour (Duffau Lagarrosse) offers up aromas of black raspberries, mulberries, violets, spices and incense, followed by a medium to full-bodied, deep and layered palate that’s seamless, suave and concentrated, with lively acids, beautiful purity of fruit and a long, mineral, gently balsamic finish. It’s a blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc, picked on nine days between September 13 and October 3. Duffau Lagarrosse’s work on oak selection (she favors Burgundy’s cooperage Cadus, among others) has delivered much more seamless integration at this early stage, and her attentive approach to extraction is already bearing fruit in the form of tannins that are more polished and refined than was formerly the case at this address. It’s a brilliant effort from a property with almost limitless potential. (William Kelley,Other)