Château Beau-Séjour Bécot: Vineyards
Château Beau-Séjour Bécot lies just to the west of St Emilion, on the edge of the St Martin plateau. As you would imagine, it lies very close to Château Beauséjour-Duffau-Lagarosse, with which it shares a fairly recent origin, as well as Château Canon, with which it shares a much more ancient origin. Whereas Château Beauséjour and Château Canon both enjoy a rather prominent position on the very side of the road that runs in from the west, past Château Angélus and Le Dôme, Château Beau-Séjour Bécot is secreted behind these two estates, and is not so easily spotted unless you actively look for it.
The rock underfoot here is limestone peppered with fossilised starfish, the classic calcaire à Astéries, which is very typical of the slopes of the commune. The vines dig their roots into this, supported by a meagre topsoil, a thin coating of organic matter mixed with clay and degraded limestone. All told there are currently 16.5 hectares of vines on the 18.5-hectare estate, and these are predominantly Merlot, accounting for 70% of the vineyard, with 24% Cabernet Franc and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, with an overall average age in excess of 40 years.
