Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou (6 Bottles in OWC) 2018
- JD
- WS
- RP
- JS
- WE
- D
- JD
- JS
- D
- V
- RP
- V
- JD
- WE
- JS
- RP
- D
- JD
- JS
- D
- RP
- JD
- WE
- JS
- D
- RP
- JD
- JS
- WE
- D
- RP
- WS
- JD
- JS
- WE
- RP
- D
- WS
- D
- WE
- RP
- JS
- WS
- JD
- JS
- D
- JD
- WE
- RP
- WS
- D
- WE
- JS
- WS
- RP
- JD
- WE
- D
- WS
- JS
- RP
- JS
- JD
- RP
- D
- WS
- WE
- JD
- D
- RP
- WE
- WS
- JS
- D
- JD
- RP
- WE
- JS
- WS
- WE
- RP
- WS
- WS
- D
- WE
- RP
- W&S
- D
- RP
- WE
- WS
- JS
- W&S
- WE
- WS
- RP
- W&S
- WS
- RP
- JS
- WE
- W&S
- WS
- WE
- WS
- RP
- JS
- WS
- RP
- WS
- RP
- W&S
- RP
- WS
- RP
- WS
- RP
- RP
- RP
- WS
- D
- WS
- RP
- WS
- RP
- RP
- WS
- RP
- RP
Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesThe grand vin of this terrific estate, the 2018 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou is based on 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot that will spend 18 months in new barrels. It’s as classy as they come, boasting a deep purple/blue color as well as awesome notes of pure crème de cassis, smoke tobacco, crushed rock-like minerality, and violets. Haute couture at its finest, with full-bodied richness, building structure and tannins, and remarkable purity, it’s certainly in the same ballpark as the magical 2016. It will be approachable in just 4-5 years yet keep for 40+. Barrel Sample: 97-100
Another rock 'em sock 'em St.-Julien here, brimming with nearly exotic blackberry, plum, blueberry and açaí berry reduction notes, bristling with brambly energy and racing through a graphite-edged finish. Shows gorgeous perfume throughout, despite the fairly obvious level of concentration. Barrel Sample: 96-99
Aromas of blackberries, blackcurrants, new leather and bark follow through to a full body with a dense, deep palate that goes on and on, but is still shy and reserved. Large amount of ultra fine, cashmere-like tannins that are silky, sleek and wonderfully integrated. Extremely long and focused. Needs at least four to five years to start opening. A beautiful wine for the cellar. Try after 2027.
Barrel Sample: 96-98
Barrel Sample
Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou is named after the beautiful, large stones found in its unique wine-growing terroir. This exceptional ecosystem produces fine, elegant, tasty wines with a long finish - in short, archetypical Saint-Julien wines.
Perched on an exceptional site with incomparable views over the Gironde estuary, in the center of a hundred-year-old park, Ducru-Beaucaillou is a majestic, Victorian-style castle, which has, over time, become one of the great symbols of the Médoc. Unusual for Bordeaux, it is built directly above the barrel cellars, enveloping its owners, who have lived here for over sixty years.
Today, the estate is managed by the company Jean Eugène Borie SA, which is owned by Mrs Borie, her daughter Sabine Coiffe and her son Bruno-Eugène, CEO since 2003, the third generation of the Borie family to head the estate. There are very close links between this estate and the five families who have been its successive owners.
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.
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.