Chateau Beychevelle Managing Director & Chief Winemaker Philippe Blanc
Philippe Blanc is a self-effacing person. He has firm beliefs in what sort of wine he wants to make but is not knee-jerk dismissive of other approaches by other winemakers. Would the Managing Director & Chief Winemaker of Chateau Beychevelle care to name five vintages he is most proud of?
‘I am proud of what we have achieved as a team. There is no vintage I am ashamed of. Every year, you discover something. I like that. Every vintage is different. Nothing is easy, except perhaps 2016, and in 2005 we had perfect conditions. In 2013, it was a nightmare and, in a sense, we can be proud of that because we went through a storm but we brought back the ship. The sail was damaged but we were alive. It shows that it can’t be easy all the time. It was a battle and we had to fight hard. We made an honest effort and we can be proud of that.’
Philippe Blanc produces wines of great purity. He keeps a steady hand in the face of changing fashion.
‘We work with (wine consultants) Jacques and Eric Boissenot. They are not tempted to make sticky wines. If we do that, they would say “bye bye”. The wines have more density than in the past but we don’t try bodybuilding, highly extracted wines. It’s dangerous to do things that nature does not give you. I am not an elegant person but the terroir is elegant. We must be happy enough to make this choice.’
It is very touching to hear Philippe Blanc speak of the late Jacques Boissenot (1938 – 2014) in the present tense. In a sense, the great consultant is still very much alive in the wines he and later, his son, Eric oversaw at Beychevelle (and at other properties including Lafite, Margaux, Latour, Mouton, Pichon Baron and Pichon Comtesse).
Blanc also pays a tribute to Aymar de Baillenx, who was overall in charge of Chateau Beychevelle and its sister company Barriere Freres, the wine merchant house or negociant, before he retired in July 2016.
‘Aymar never put any pressure. We always felt 200 percent. We had a wonderful understanding and I was very happy working with him. We don’t care about what marks or scores the wines get. We do our job. We are rowing in the right direction. The trust is the market, the Bordeaux market, which has 100% trust in us. That is very important, commercially and technically. That gives us a lot of value which, for me, is a good description of goodwill. And the best marketing we can ask for.’
Chateau Beychevelle Managing Director & Chief Winemaker Philippe Blanc with participants of Great Bordeaux Tour IV.
Chateau Beychevelle is sometimes referred to as the “Versailles of the Medoc”. This is a tribute to the classical architecture of the chateau and its lovely French gardens. The property has a history that stretches back to the Middle Ages when the chateau had belonged to the Counts of Foix-Candale. The wine was already shipped to England, Flanders and the Germanic countries directly from the port that lies at the bottom of the gardens.
In 1565, Bishop Francois de Foix-Candale commissioned the building of the chateau. His niece – the wife of Jean-Louis de Nogaret de La Valette, Duke of Epernon, who was also the Grand Admiral of France during the reign of Henri III – inherited the chateau. Such was the power and prestige of the Grand Admiral that when ships sailed in front of his estate, they had to lower their sail as a sign of respect. This act of baisse-voile or “drop sail” is reputed to be the origin of the name Beychevelle.
Today, French Castel Group and Japan’s Suntory are half-and-half proprietors of the chateau. Beychevelle is one of China’s favourite Bordeaux. Apart from the wine being very elegant, the Saint-Julien Classified Growth’s Chinese name is affectionately translated as “Dragon Boat”.
Do not miss the chance to taste Chateau Beychevelle at Singapore Forever 29 November 2026!
