The 2020 Château Beauséjour (Duffau-Lagarrosse), made mostly by the team of Nicolas Thienpont (the final blend was put together by Joséphine Duffau-Lagarrosse), is another tour de force from this incredible terroir, and undeniably one of the wines of the vintage. Based on 81% Merlot and 19% Cabernet Franc brought up in 70% new French oak, it offers a sensationally pure bouquet of black raspberries, blueberries, scorched earth, graphite, and a dense, smoky, floral character that emerges with time in the glass. With a voluptuous, layered mouthfeel, gorgeous mid-palate depth, building tannins, and a liqueur of mineral-like character on the finish, it shows the density, purity, precision, and vibrancy of this vintage perfectly and displays that rare mix of richness, intensity, elegance, and length that are the hallmarks of a truly great wine. This is unquestionably in the ranks of the 2009, 2010, and 2016 and will evolve for 40 years or more.

Intense but delicate, really an exciting wine to taste where you feel the energy build through the palate. Unmistakable limestone influence with the floral aromatics, a jumble of peony, roses and violets, opening up to brambled raspberry and loganberry fruits, with fennel, oyster shell and slate. Huge ageing potential. Cabernet Sauvignon rather than Cabernet Franc in this blend, just one of the many ways in which it stands out from its peers even on the limestone plateau of St Emilion, its delicacy suggesting it is one of the most Burgundian of Bordeaux wines. This vintage was overseen during the growing season and vinification by the team under Nicolas Thienpont, but given its final blend and ageing by new co-owner Josephine Duffau-Lagarosse, along with Prisca Courtin-Clarins.

The 2020 Beausejour Duffau has a deep garnet-purple color. It needs considerable swirling to coax out notes of black cherry compote, plum preserves, and tar, leading to suggestions of licorice, crushed rocks, chalk dust, and cast-iron pan, with a faint waft of violets. The medium-bodied palate is elegantly styled and refreshing, featuring beautifully fine -grained tannins and loads of mineral layers to spark the black and blue fruits, finishing with fantastic persistence.

Dark and sultry, this is heady with ripe, perfumed fruits that dominate the palate giving vertical layers of freshness, acidity and fruit concentration. It has style to it, a sleekness to the texture, classy with a lovely core of juiciness. Still a little constricted with lots of liquorice and graphite on show and a touch of saltiness towards the finish. Really well worked, mouthfilling, weighty, intense, forward and energetic. It's bigger and broader in terms of frame and flavour than the 2019 – with floral, blood orange, blueberry and bramble fruit nuances, but carries the weight well, remaining focused. I love the expression, it's dark, cool, sleek and textured. Just a gorgeous delicious wine!

Blackberries with lavender, cedar, sandalwood and flowers. Very subtle aromas. It’s medium- to full-bodied with a very tight palate of fine, structured tannins that run the length of the wine. Closed at the end. Shows excellent precision and aging potential. 81.5% merlot and 18.5% cabernet franc. Try after 2028.

Power, finesse, length, purity, and complexity is all over the place here. In the nose, with its elements of dried flowers, espresso, plums, cherries, licorice, spice, cocoa, herbs and crushed rocks. As good as that is, on the palate, the wine flows over your palate with its waves of vibrant, plums, cherries, black raspberries, blue fruits, salty tannins and purity. The lively, vibrant, long finish that doesn't know when to quit. That is a good thing because you want to enjoy it again and again. Drink from 2026-2055. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/search-wine-tasting-notes/?szSearch=2020%20Beausejour

The 2020 Beauséjour Héritiers Duffau-Lagarrosse is racy, sophisticated and wonderfully polished. Crushed red berry fruit, lavender, rose petal, cinnamon and blood orange all race through the 2020. This is the first vintage overseen by consulting winemaker Julien Viaud, who seems to be going for a less extracted style than that favored by Nicolas Thienpont. There is plenty of size and vertical explosive energy, but the 2020 is also wonderfully finessed, especially in its tannins. It's a striking wine by any measure. -- Antonio Galloni

(94+ points) The 2020 Beauséjour (Duffau Lagarrosse) is showing well in bottle, offering up aromas of dark berries, plums, licorice, rose petals and spices framed by creamy new oak. Medium to full-bodied, layered and fleshy, with a rich core of fruit, lively acids and chalky structure, it was vinified by Nicolas Thienpont and his team, but Joséphine Duffau modified the final blend, which includes 19% Cabernet Franc and the balance Merlot. Tasted next to the 2018 and 2019, the 2020 is somewhat more restrained, but it is the end of a stylistic chapter rather than the beginning of a new one. - William Kelley