2010 Château Beychevelle - Saint-Julien Grand Cru Classé - 12 Bottles (0.75L)

Château Beychevelle is a well-regarded wine estate based in the Saint-Julien appellation of Bordeaux's northern Haut-Médoc wine region, on the left bank of the Gironde estuary.. The estate's flagship, Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant, wine is known for its supple power and smooth, rich texture, and better vintages have great aging ability. In the Bordeaux Classification of 1855 it was ranked a fourth growth.

The 250-hectare (620-acre) estate is situated in the extreme southeast of the Saint-Julien appellation, just outside the small commune of Beychevelle. The château building lies just east of Branaire-Ducru and south of Ducru-Beaucaillou.

The Beychevelle vineyard covers 90 hectares (222 acres) of deep Garonne gravel, with 57 percent planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, which is dominant in the wine itself. The remaining vineyard has 40 percent Merlot and three percent Petit Verdot.

The eponymous flagship wine, or "grand vin", is aged for 18 months in oak barrels, half of which are new. A second wine, Amiral de Beychevelle, is made from lots not earmarked for the grand vin. A few plots in the vineyard lie outside the Saint-Julien border and so are made under the Haut-Médoc classification as Les Brulières de Beychevelle.

The name Beychevelle comes from the first Duke of Epernon, a navy admiral who owned the estate in the 16th Century. Boats that passed on the Garonne had to lower their sails in deference and the term "Baisse-Voile" (lowering of sails) became Beychevelle. This nautical theme extends to the ship with a griffin prow featured on the label.

The Château is currently owned by the Castel-Suntory joint venture, Grand Millésimes de France.