2015 Chateau Beauséjour Vegan No SO2, Puisseguin St Emilion
A blend of 70% Merlot(Black plums, blue berries), 30% Cabernet Franc(blackcurrant bud, dry flowers), this 2015 Chateau Beauséjour Vegan No SO2 from Puisseguin St Emilion is a delicious ripe wine, full of black fruits with generous tannins. Mint flavours come from the new wood ageing(and from the hotter 2015 vintage too) and enhance the ripe berry flavours and acidity.
The vines have an average age of 40(some 80) years, giving the grapes good varietal character and depth on nose. Added to this nose is a bit of funk(ripe/stinky cheese) slightly wild, kicks in the same on the palate with slow oxygenation from savouring in glass, imparting certain creepy 'strangeness' as this has already been made in our past lives. It tastes so familiar and so foreign.................
This no-sulfites cum vegan treatment, we believe, made this wine special as a real classic, French style great with roasts. The 2015 Chateau Beausejour No Sulfites and Vegan(Puissequin St Emilion) starts drinking now and can be kept for another 10 years. ABV 13.5% is sufficient for ageing well enough.
Having tasted vintages 1966, 1970, 2011, 2012, 2014 of Chateau Beauséjour, we feel that when we don’t use sulfites, ripe/funky character comes through more strongly even in young wines like the 2015. There is certain seriousness in this wine. Of course, this no sulfites technique has been long lost and is a re-discovery. There is a feral finish undetectable on the nose on decanting, and hangs around on the palate and that is when the real complexity kicks in.
On scores, the 2014 lower version got Wine Enthusiast 91. We just accord it DD 93.
