Winemaker Notes
A highly aromatic nose, opening on floral notes, followed by ripe black cherry and cassis. The profile is dense and compact yet lifted. On the palate, the wine is rich and structured, driven by a precise sense of tension that brings clarity and definition to the fruit. The texture is fine and controlled, leading to a tight, sapid finish with a pronounced mineral expression, leaving a fresh, clean and persistent impression.
Blend: 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Deep purple-hued and completely opaque, the blockbuster 2025 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou checks in as 79% Cabernet Sauvignon and 21% Merlot, all resting in 100% new barrels. The nose is rich and concentrated, with pure crème de cassis, graphite, ripe black cherries, spicy wood, and freshly sharpened pencil-driven aromatics. On the palate, it's full-bodied, with a dense, concentrated mid-palate, ripe, building tannins, and a great finish. It checks in at 13.44% alcohol with a pH of 3.8. This structured, pure, and incredibly precise Ducru reminds me slightly of the 2010, with perhaps a touch more finesse.
Barrel Sample: 97-99 -
Vinous
The 2025 Ducru-Beaucaillou is fabulous. Vibrant red/purplish fruit, rose petal, lavender, mint and blood orange are all beautifully sculpted. The purity of the fruit is just remarkable. New oak is 100%, but lower toast levels and a more dialed-in approach here are palpable. Gorgeous floral and savory Cabernet top notes lift the finish. Superb, and one of the highlights of the year, Ducru is absolutely stunning in 2025. –Antonio Galloni
Barrel Sample: 96-99 -
Decanter
Such a vivid and vibrant colour in the glass with a bright pink rim. Ripe almost heady aromatics – perfumed bramble fruits with a dried floral aspect and dark chocolate. Ripe and massy in the mouth, not as sexy and smooth as Ducru can be, this is more grainy and a little grippy with the tannins and structure clearly on show and dark fruit in the background. Serious, sultry even, with oak on show – liquorice and clove spice. The aromatic display is quite incredible, certainly full of intensity but this hasn't settled yet. Mouthwatering acidity, great tannin structure, there’s a lot going on with this wine. Ends cool and fresh and lifted. I love the intensity, quite unlike many other wines this vintage – this is built like a racehorse, muscular and filling but chewy and soft too. I love the personality and think this wine has a long life ahead. There’s purity, clarity and gloss. 3.74pH. A yield of 22hl/ha. Harvest 2–23 September.
Barrel Sample: 98 -
James Suckling
The intensity is very impressive on the nose, with black currants, raspberries and graphite. Medium- to full-bodied with a powerful structure of steely tannins that are polished and long. Turns fluid, fine and chewy at the end. Wait and see. A blend of 79% cabernet sauvignon and 21% merlot.
Barrel Sample: 96-97
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.