Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
One seriously sexy Saint-Julien, the 2009 Branaire-Ducru is a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. It offers a killer nose of crème de cassis, black raspberries, lead pencil shavings and crushed flowers. This gives way to a full-bodied, incredibly layered, broad and expansive 2009 that has everything you could want from a top-flight Bordeaux. It’s already approachable, yet has the concentration to keep for another two decades.
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James Suckling
Gorgeous aromas of dark berries and wet earth, with hints of graphite. Full body, with juicy, chewy tannins and a long rich, fruity, and succulent finish. Best ever from here. Try in 2019.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Only time will tell whether the 2009, another great effort from Branaire, will eclipse the 2005 and 2003. Certainly at 13.6% alcohol it is the most powerful Branaire ever made, and the final blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot showcases what a great vintage 2009 is for Cabernet Sauvignon. An inky/blue/purple color is followed by raspberry, boysenberry, crushed rock, graphite, and floral notes, and an opaque, broad, dense, substantial, impressively structured wine without any hardness. It requires 4-5 years of cellaring, and should last four decades or more.
Barrel Sample: 92-95 Points -
Wine Spectator
Aromas of blueberry, dried citrus fruit and currant. Full-bodied, with chewy tannins and a long, long finish. Structured and tannic, but sweet fruit behind.
Barrel Sample: 92-95 Points -
Wine Enthusiast
Wood dominant, smooth tannins and a open, generous texture. This is ripe and full in the mouth.
Barrel Sample: 94-94
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
An icon of balance and tradition, St. Julien boasts the highest proportion of classed growths in the Médoc. What it lacks in any first growths, it makes up in the rest: five amazing second growth chateaux, two superb third growths and four well-reputed fourth growths. While the actual class rankings set in 1855 (first, second, and so on the fifth) today do not necessarily indicate a score of quality, the classification system is important to understand in the context of Bordeaux history. Today rivalry among the classed chateaux only serves to elevate the appellation overall.
One of its best historically, the estate of Leoville, was the largest in the Médoc in the 18th century, before it was divided into the three second growths known today as Chateau Léoville-Las-Cases, Léoville-Poyferré and Léoville-Barton. Located in the north section, these are stone’s throw from Chateau Latour in Pauillac and share much in common with that well-esteemed estate.
The relatively homogeneous gravelly and rocky top soil on top of clay-limestone subsoil is broken only by a narrow strip of bank on either side of the “jalle,” or stream, that bisects the zone and flows into the Gironde.
St. Julien wines are for those wanting subtlety, balance and consistency in their Bordeaux. Rewarding and persistent, the best among these Bordeaux Blends are full of blueberry, blackberry, cassis, plum, tobacco and licorice. They are intense and complex and finish with fine, velvety tannins.