Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou Croix de Beaucaillou 2016

Professional Ratings

• 96 Wine Enthusiast
  Richly spicy with swathes of black fruit and dark tannins, this powerful wine also shows great elegance. Juicy fruits shine through the structure to give a wine a good future.
  Editors' Choice
• 94 James Suckling
  Pristine, attractive fruit with perfume and freshness. Dark-berry and plum notes, as well as cassis and brambleberries, define the character of both nose and palate. The tannins are saturated in ripe dark berries and plums and deliver a superbly fresh, shimmering, dark-fruited finish. Wow-factor is strong here in 2016. Try this from 2024.
• 94 Decanter
  Rich and silky in texture, there's some lovely cinnamon and black pepper spice here, with lovely grip from the very fine tannins and good drive too. It's extremely precise, with every piece in its place, a considered and drawn out style featuring notes of menthol and bitter dark chocolate. It's really bedding in for the long haul. It shows that even the second wines can be powerful and concentrated in 2016.
• 93 Jeb Dunnuck
  While the top wine gets all the attention, the second wine 2016 La Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou is well worth seeking out and unquestionably shows some of the class and purity of the grand vin. A more forward, fleshy wine with oodles of black raspberries, cassis, and floral hints, it’s a total charmer with its fine, supple tannins and great finish. A blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot, aged 12 months in 60% new barrels, drink it any time over the coming 15-20 years.
• 92 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 La Croix de Beaucaillou gives up aromas of cassis, earth, black plums, black cherries and mulberries with wafts of menthol, cigars and crushed rocks. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is lively and earthy with firm, grainy tannins, finishing long and mineral-laced.
• 91 Wine Spectator
  Solid, with engaging cassis, cherry and blueberry fruit flavors, backed by a mouthwatering bramble note and flash of roasted apple wood. Captures the essence of '16 St.-Julien in a more accessible package. Best from 2021 through 2030.