- “A ripe, full-bodied, incredibly sexy wine in every sense,” says Jeb Dunnuck.
- The wine is being offered for £695 (12×75) SEP.
- This is the second most affordable vintage on the market after the 2019.
The 2020 Château Beychevelle has been released for €57.6 per bottle ex-négociant, up 9.1% on the 2019 release.
The international trade is offering the wine for £695 per 12×75, 5.6% more than the current Market Price of the 2019.
This and last year’s release offer good value for money, though the 2016 (NM 96) might appeal to score-conscious buyers.
Critical opinion
The Benchmark Critic, Neal Martin (Vinous), has not tasted the wine yet. However, the 2020 Beychevelle featured among Antonio Galloni’s “notable wines of 2020”. Galloni observed: “This Saint-Julien estate has been on a roll lately. The 2020 is an especially fine effort that balances opulence and energy”. He awarded it a barrel range of 94-96.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW (The Wine Advocate) gave it the same score bracket as Galloni, and said that “the 2020 Beychevelle offers up vibrant notes of black raspberries, fresh black cherries and cassis, plus hints of wild sage, chocolate mint, rose hip tea and fallen leaves, with an exotic hint of Indian spices”.
Beychevelle 2020 received 95-97 from Jeff Leve (The Wine Cellar Insider) and Jeb Dunnuck. For Dunnuck, it is “a stunner that does everything right”.
The wine also boasts 92-94 points from Falstaff and 94 from Jane Anson (Decanter).
Fair Value
Today’s release costs less that all other vintages available in-bottle and given the critical praise it will appeal to buyers. But Beychevelle is also an example of an estate where age matters.
Its prices show stronger correlation to age than to critic scores – with vintages like 2011 and 2006 falling well below the ‘Fair Value’ line as a result.
The 2019 also looks attractive and is 5.3% cheaper.
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