Stylish, with vanilla, spice and cherry aromas and flavors, very silky texture and a long vanilla finish. Drinkable now .-- The Bordeaux 50.Wine Spectator | 91 WS(Château Beychevelle) In contrast to the 1986, the 1985 Beychevelle is still in its funky adolescent phase and is not showing a whole lot of charm at the present time, but the wine shows off enough nascent complexity and such impressive length and grip on the finish today that I have to believe that this wine will blossom beautifully with a bit more patience. The nose is still a tad disjointed, as it offers up scents of black cherries, bell pepper, nutskins, a touch of chipotle, iron-like soil tones, coffee, herbs and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, fullish and a bit tempestuous on the attack, with a good core of fruit, very good acids for the vintage, moderate tannins and just a bit of rustiness on the backend that I strongly suspect will go away with further bottle age. Drinking this today is a waste of bottles, but tuck it away for another six or seven years and it should really be blossoming. I would be very surprised if it does not ultimately place at the very top end of the projected score, but it is so cantankerous at the present time that it seems imprudent not to score it within a range. (Drink between 2018-2050)John Gilman | 89-92+ JG
