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Château Beauséjour (Héritiers Duffau-Lagarrosse) is a Premier Grand Cru Classé B of St-Émilion – a small estate on the limestone plateau whose wine is regarded as an almost perfect expression of limestone. In 2021 it passed to the Courtin-Clarins family with Joséphine Duffau-Lagarrosse. On just around 6.8 hectares, a Merlot-dominated, mineral wine of great purity is made. Secure the Grand Vin or the second wine Croix de Beauséjour.
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Château Beauséjour (Héritiers Duffau-Lagarrosse) is a Premier Grand Cru Classé B of the St-Émilion classification, on the right bank of the Gironde – a small estate on the limestone plateau, whose wine is regarded as an almost perfect expression of limestone. On just 6.5 to 6.8 hectares between Angélus, Beau-Séjour Bécot and Canon, a Merlot-dominated, mineral wine of great purity is produced. In 2021 the estate was sold to the Courtin-Clarins family, together with Joséphine Duffau-Lagarrosse. The Grand Vin is complemented by the second wine Croix de Beauséjour.
The estate was owned by the Duffau-Lagarrosse family from 1847 to 2021 – „Héritiers” (heirs) refers to the numerous family shareholders. In 1869 today’s Beau-Séjour Bécot emerged from the originally larger Beauséjour. After the heirs decided to sell, a closely watched bidding contest developed; in 2021 the Courtin-Clarins family (the Clarins cosmetics group) finally acquired the estate for around €75 million, together with family member Joséphine Duffau-Lagarrosse (ninth generation, oenologist). It is now run by the duo Prisca Courtin and Joséphine Duffau-Lagarrosse; the consultants are Axel Marchal and Julien Viaud.
Beauséjour is Premier Grand Cru Classé B and has belonged to the select circle of first classified growths since the very beginnings of the St-Émilion classification; the 2022 classement confirmed its rank. Much of the estate’s reputation over the past decade and a half is owed to the work of the team around Nicolas Thienpont and Stéphane Derenoncourt (up to the 2020 vintage), on which the new owners are now building.
Around 40 per cent of the vines lie on the plateau, around 50 per cent on the south-southwest-facing côtes with the same shallow topsoil and the deep Astéries limestone also found at Ausone; the remaining 10 per cent lie on the lower clay-limestone slopes with a higher clay content, which mostly supply the second wine. This small, compact estate ranks among the most remarkable sites of the appellation.
The grape-variety mix comprises 80.5% Merlot and 19.5% Cabernet Franc with 6,700 vines per hectare (up to 8,888 for the most recent plantings). An unusually high proportion of old vines, particularly Cabernet Franc, shapes the wine’s quality; by 2025 the Cabernet Franc share is set to rise to around 30 per cent.
All vineyard work is carried out by hand, without chemical fertilisers or herbicides; around nine-tenths of treatments are organic. Yields have been reduced to a moderate 35 to 40 hl/ha, new drainage has been laid into the slopes, and grape varieties have been swapped (a third of the existing Merlot has been replaced with Cabernet Franc from massal selection). Ageing takes place over more than a year in French oak, a significant proportion of it new.
The Grand Vin Château Beauséjour accounts for around 65 per cent of production, the second wine Croix de Beauséjour around 35 per cent (from the lower, clay-richer parcels). The estate’s small size makes the Grand Vin a genuinely limited rarity.
For many, Beauséjour comes close to the perfect expression of limestone: in its youth the wine can seem closed and austere, yet it pulses with life from the very first moment – aromatically rich, juicy and powerful, with blackberry, violet, graphite and a penetrating minerality. It takes its time, opens slowly, and shows an extraordinary purity of fruit.
Among the outstanding recent vintages are 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022. Among the more mature vintages, 2005, 2009 and 2010 are especially rewarding; the 1990 is regarded as a modern classic with cult status (100 points from Robert Parker).
In great vintages the Grand Vin ages for thirty years or more and usually needs eight to twelve years to open up. Croix de Beauséjour is at its peak after five to eight years.
European Wine-Searcher prices for current vintages (retail prices incl. VAT, indicative figures):
Beauséjour offers grand, limestone-defined St-Émilion in a very limited quantity – with collector’s potential in the top vintages.
An entry into the style is offered by Croix de Beauséjour. For the cellar, the Grand Vin in top vintages is the strategically most interesting position – a mineral, long-lived St-Émilion of the greatest purity and rarity.
Who owns Château Beauséjour (Héritiers Duffau-Lagarrosse)? The estate was sold in 2021 to the Courtin-Clarins family (Clarins) together with Joséphine Duffau-Lagarrosse. It is run by the duo Prisca Courtin and Joséphine Duffau-Lagarrosse.
What classification level does Beauséjour hold? Beauséjour is Premier Grand Cru Classé B of the St-Émilion classification (confirmed in the 2022 classement).
What is the composition of the Grand Vin? The grape-variety mix comprises 80.5% Merlot and 19.5% Cabernet Franc; by 2025 the Cabernet Franc share is set to rise to around 30 per cent.
What is the second wine called? The second wine is Croix de Beauséjour (from the lower, clay-richer parcels).
What characterises the 1990? The 1990 Beauséjour is regarded as a modern classic with cult status and received 100 points from Robert Parker – one of the legendary St-Émilion vintages.
What does a bottle of Beauséjour cost? Current vintages of the Grand Vin sell on the European market for around 90 to 160 euros, with mature top vintages higher. Croix de Beauséjour starts at around 30 euros.
Beauséjour combines an extraordinary limestone terroir with the history of an almost 175-year family era and an ambitious new beginning under the Courtin-Clarins family and Joséphine Duffau-Lagarrosse. As a small Premier Grand Cru Classé B of the greatest purity, it ranks among the finest addresses of the right bank.
