2005 Chateau Beau-Sejour-Becot Saint Emilion (half bottle)

Something of a poster child for the very ripe 2005 St. Emilions, Beau-Sejour-Becot is an opulent, very ripe wine with a sense of richness seen from provenance in very few years. Its extracted, black cherry themes are underlain by a bit of stony "terroir", and, if both tannic and a touch hot at the end, it never loses its grasp on deep fruit. It has the stuffing to ensure lengthy keeping, and we would not be surprised if it improves for a decade or more.

Good ruby-red. Very ripe but lively aromas of kirsch, licorice, bitter chocolate, nuts and violet. Dense and sweet but vibrant, with a medicinal reserve and terrific grip to the superripe fruit and bitter chocolate flavors. Wonderfully rich, pliant wine with late-arriving tannins and a terrific spine for a slow evolution in bottle. Much more tightly wound today than the Becot family's La Gomerie, but there's plenty of fat fruit lurking.