Chateau Branaire-Ducru (Futures Pre-Sale) 2012
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Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Full of ripe Cabernet tannins, this is a structured wine that’s chunky in character. It elegantly balances fruit and structure, resulting in a wine that’s sure to be impressive.
Barrel Sample: 93-95 Points -
Wine Spectator
Light, racy and pure, with red currant and cherry pit notes driving a solid hint of rooibos tea on the finish. The finely beaded acidity keeps this going. Not big, but persistent and showing considerable finesse.
Barrel Sample: 90-93 Points -
James Suckling
A clean and fresh wine with blueberry, mineral and floral character. Medium to full body, fine tannins and a crisp finish. This is a very refined and beautiful Branaire. Better in 2017.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 Branaire Ducru is a seductive effort that is a credit to this chateau, which did not try to over-extract or push the fruit past what it was capable of providing. The result is an elegant, pretty, mid-weight wine with soft, velvety tannin, spicy mulberry and black cherry fruit, hints of spring flowers and loamy soil undertones, medium body and a moderate finish. Drink it over the next 10-12 years.
Barrel Sample: 88-90 Points
The name, given by the former owner Monsieur Ducru, means "beautiful pebbles". One of the main features of the vineyard is its richness in pebbles which contribute to the greatness of so many wines of the Medoc.
Just before the war, the vineyard became run down and many Bordeaux critics felt it no longer deserved its rank as a Second Growth. During the Medoc Classification of 1855, the Chateau was rated as a Fourth Growth. In 1942 the Borie family purchased the vineyard completely revamped the vineyard and it began receiving top ratings amongst the Second Growths. Successive generations of the Borie family oversee all winemaking operations.