Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou (1.5 Liter Magnum - slightly scuffed label) 2008

Professional Ratings

• 95 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  One of the stars of the vintage, and a remarkable achievement in 2008, with impressive richness, this dense purple colored wine is almost as opaque as the 2010. Spring flowers, crushed rocks, creme de cassis and some subtle oak are followed by a full-bodied, concentrated wine that transcends the vintage character in its power, richness, and aging potential. It also exhibits tremendous precision, purity, and depth of character. It is more forward than the 2010 is likely to be, but probably not as sumptuous as the 2009 will turn out to be. This is a wine to buy. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2035.
  Rating: 95+
• 95 Jeb Dunnuck
  A gem from the Left Bank is the 2008 Château Ducru Beaucaillou, which comes from just one-third of the total production and is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot. This brilliant Saint-Julien boasts a still vivid ruby/purple color as well as a head-turning bouquet of crème de cassis, high-class smoke tobacco, truffle, and some gravelly, rocky minerality. Possessing medium to full-bodied richness, silky tannins, and thrilling purity of fruit, it’s just at the early stages of its drink window and has an easy two decades or more of prime drinking.
• 95 Decanter
  This has real depth of flavour, with an extremely good quality, juicy slate and mineral-filled finish. The emphasis, however, is upfront and all about the brambly blackberry and bilberry fruits, edged with liquorice, eucalyptus and hedgerow. It's hugely enjoyable to see such different personalities from vintage to vintage.
• 94 Wine Enthusiast
  Chocolate, coffee and sweet plum notes give this wine great richness. It has wood that needs time to integrate, although the main character is beautiful, velvet-textured, ripe fruit and plenty of sweet tannins.
• 94 James Suckling
  Wow. This is really impressive for the vintage, with a solid core of raspberry, currants and spices. Full and round, with velvety tannins and a long, long finish. Superb winemaking for the vintage.
• 92 Wine Spectator
  This is dark and brooding, with a tarry wall holding the black currant, melted licorice and espresso notes at bay for now. Extra roasted sage, cedar and briar push in on the finish, which showsan old-school hint. Rock-solid. Best from 2013 through 2021.