2021 CH DUCRU BEAUCAILLOU 2ÈME CRU ST JULIEN - 6x75cl

Tasting Notes

• 

  Neal Martin, April 2022,
  Score: 94-96

  The 2021 Ducru-Beaucaillou was picked at around 24hL/ha and matured in 100% new oak for 18 months, as is customary. It takes time to unfold in the glass, revealing intense blackberry, raspberry, iris flowers and a touch of spice. Very precise, though as expected, more understated than previous vintages. The palate is medium-bodied with a sappy, saline entry and good grip. Classic in style, fanning out toward the finish, and briny on the aftertaste. This is a fascinating, almost old-school Ducru-Beaucaillou. Drink 2028 - 2050

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  Wine Advocate, April 2022,
  Score: 94-96

  A wine that will delight Médoc purists, the 2021 Ducru-Beaucaillou is a blend of fully 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Merlot and checks in at a mere 12.5% alcohol. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of dark berries, cigar wrapper, violets, loamy soil and spices, it's full-bodied, layered and velvety, with superb depth at the core, lively acids and powdery tannins. Complete and penetrating, it's a true classic, reminiscent of a modern-day version of Ducru's brilliant 1996—though today's precision winemaking means that the 2021 is unlikely to go through so long a hibernation as that vintage.

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  Antonio Galloni, April 2022,
  Score: 96-98

  The 2021 Ducru-Beaucaillou is a pretty significant departure from the past, as it is nearly pure Cabernet Sauvignon. A deep, aristocratic wine, the 2021 possesses remarkable intensity from start to finish. Inky dark fruit, bittersweet chocolate and leather are some of the myriad nuances that develop with some aeration. The 2021 is so well balanced. The 100% new oak, often quite dominant in Ducru en primeur, is so well integrated, likely because lower alcohol extracted less oak imprint. The 2021 is a drop dead gorgeous wine, and a Ducru for the ages. Superb. Drink 2031 - 2061

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  Goedhuis, April 2022,
  Score: 96-98

  Bruno Borie’s fine second growth encapsulates the success of the Cabernet Sauvignon in 2021 and his confidence in this esteemed grape variety. It makes up 98% of the final blend, the highest on record for the estate! Inevitably this has a huge degree of power and concentration. The dark opaque colour prepares you for a mouthful of rich blackcurrant fruit layered with some smoky vanilla oak and spice. A strong and intense style more reflective of a warmer vintage, with great length and concentration.

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  Wine Cellar Insider, April 2022,
  Score: 95-97

  Cigar box, tobacco leaf, wet earth, blackberry, flowers and black currants fill the nose. On the palate, the wine is fresh, polished, soft and energetic, with a spice, and leafy-tinted finish that leaves you with dark cherries and currants on the backend. There is length, purity, lift and softness in finish. This is one of the potential candidates for wine of the vintage. Classic (In a modern way) in style, the wine is a blend of 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Merlot. This is the highest percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the history of the estate. 12.5% ABV, 3.88 pH, The yields were a scant 25 hectoliters per hectare. Harvest took place September 28 - October 11. Drink from 2026-2055.

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  Jane Anson, April 2022,
  Score: 96

  Plush depth to the savoury black fruit, with the highest ever level of Cabernet Sauvignon in this wine, and it's a stand out in the vintage. Not the exuberance that you find in the most recent years of Ducru, but it is excellent, with a creaminess to the cassis fruit alongside rose petal and peony aromatics. Sculpted and seductive, with the austere tannins that are a signature of the year. 100% new oak, IPT 100.

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  Matthew Jukes, April 2022,
  Score: 19

  They battled with frost across the Bruno Borie portfolio, but while it was not a problem at Ducru, it was definitely a huge headache at Madame where they lit bougis and used fans for four or five nights. Merlot was most affected with coulure and some millerandange, and then in June and July, they were subjected to record incidences of mildew. Predictive modelling helped the viticulture teams to treat every facet of the vines, and they doubled the squad for eight weeks to around 80 people. This ‘vine cleaning’ significantly reduced volume potential, yet they managed to harvest perfectly ripe grapes. There was no need to green harvest because much of the foliage and some of the bunches had already been removed. 2021 is, in essence, an ode to Cabernet. While Merlot was more problematic up and down the Left Bank, Cabernet proved to be more resistant to all of the climatic challenges at Ducru. Tracey Dobbin MW took me through the range. Her knowledge of the behind-the-scenes decisions was invaluable in understanding why this is such a strong portfolio in this vintage. For example, a small heat spike at the beginning of September knocked out any potential pyrazine, or green, notes that so many of the lesser wines show. They were cautious to avoid any botrytis-affected grapes by forensic sorting. They did this our times – at picking, then manually, then at de-stemming, and finally with an optical sorting machine. The new RD team even trialled UV treatments in three distinct zones in the vineyard, and who knows whether this worked, but either way, the wines are stunningly pure, so perhaps it had some effect. Extraction had to be very carefully managed because the skins were packed with flavour, but they were still relatively fragile and so super-soft handling was essential, and they only performed remontage in early phases. This background information supports the beguiling perfume and exquisite intensity found in this wine. Pure, long and upright, and built of amazingly ingredients, this is a catwalk confident Cabernet, staring straight ahead and striding down the catwalk with intent. The fruit on the palate is astonishingly mouth-filling and sumptuous, and yet with only 12.5% alcohol on board, it is also lithe, shape-shifting, refreshing and chillingly bright. Insanely attractive, amazingly concentrated and brutally elegant, this is one of only a handful of wines that seems to have accepted every challenge thrown at it in 2021 and come back even stronger and more determined to impress.

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Producer

Château Ducru-Beaucaillou

Instantly recognisable by its sunny Mediterranean-hued label,Ducru Beaucaillou is always a favourite amongst wine aficionados. Owned by the Borie family over the last 60 years, it has been run by Bruno, the eldest son of the late Jean-Eugène, since 2003. This change in leadership seems to have had a positive effect in all vintages since. Like certain other châteaux in Bordeaux, Ducru carries out cold macerations during their vinification process, a technique in which grapes are steeped in their own juice at low temperatures to gently extract vibrant colour and fleshy fruit.