Château Haut-Beauséjour: Vineyards
Although the Château Haut-Beauséjour estate boasted 20 hectares when it was created, it has shrunk somewhat since then. As noted in my account of the history of this domaine, by the time Pierre Rousseau had made his acquisition there were just 10 hectares of vines being cultivated, the Rouzaud family having elected to focus on only the best parcels. These 10 hectares came to Rousseau, alongside the estate’s winemaking facilities. After finishing the vinifications and élevages already underway, some of the vineyards were absorbed into the estate of Château Laffitte-Carcasset, feeding into the broad range of cuvées made there. This profile of Haut-Beauséjour is therefore possibly of historical interest only; the most recent vintage I have tasted at the time of the latest update was the 2022, presented during the primeurs in April 2023.
The chai has a rather understated and unadorned exterior, looking a little drab truth be told, and it is located just outside the town of St Estèphe, on the south-west side, on the periphery of the hamlet of Picard. This placed the chai and at least some of the Haut-Beauséjour vineyards – the vines pictured in this profile, which are adjacent to the chai – directly west of Château Phélan-Ségur. Naturally, Château Calon-Ségur lies a short distance to the north. This placed at least these vines on gravel soils derived from Terrace 3, on the principal mound of such gravel which constitutes the St Estèphe appellation.
