This Week's Must-Try Wines from Vinous

Welcome to this week's Must-Try Wines from Vinous! Each week we compile a list of wines from the Vinous database that you need to add to your wine wish list. With all the various regions, producers, and grapes, no week will be the same! All of the wines listed in this feature are available for purchase on Banquet . This week's must-try wines are the definition of wish list wines as these wines were a part of a historic Ducru-Beaucaillou vertical. Neal Martin shares all about the vertical, the estate, its history and so much more in his article, Where the Heart Is: Ducru-Beaucaillou 1934-2018 . Enjoy an excerpt from his article and reviews below! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bruno Borie asked how many vintages of Ducru-Beaucaillou I wanted to taste. My default reply is: As many as you are happy to open. An epic vertical tasting deserves an epic article, and this duly delivers, delving into the estate’s history, the Borie family, its viticulture and winemaking, all with in-depth contributions from Bruno Borie himself. Such a tasting deserves a write-up of equal magnitude. If you are planning to read this, I advise setting aside an hour or take a break halfway through; perhaps, pour yourself a wee dram of Ducru-Beaucaillou. Don’t blame the author entirely. Bruno Borie’s replies to my enquiries were so comprehensive and insightful that they deserve to be published unabridged. They afford readers an insight into the history, modus operandi and the family members that have presided over Ducru-Beaucaillou to create what might well be the definitive article. HISTORY The genesis of Ducru-Beaucaillou can be traced back to 30 May, 1720, when Jacques de Bergeron was betrothed to Marie Dejean, whose dowry included land in a lieu-dit known as “Maucaillou”, a portmanteau of mauvais (bad) and caillou (pebbles). It infers that the soil was difficult to work, not with respect to vines in that period, but to cereal crops. Once vines were found to thrive in this locale, the name was amended from “mauvais” to “beau”. The land was farmed by the de Bergeron family and, according to Clive Coates when researching the Lawton archives, wine was only sold under the “Beaucaillou” name from around 1760. He entertains the possibility that at the time of the Revolution, the parliamentarian François de Bergeron was the same that owned the land. In 1797, the land was purchased by Bertrand Ducru who duly appended his name to the cru. Ducru reconstituted the vineyards and renovated the buildings, which were initially built purely for functional purposes, the grand directoire-style façade that visitors see nowadays was constructed in 1820. Throughout the first half of the 19th century, the quality and reputation of the wine began to befit such a splendid château and production reached 150 tonneaux per annum by 1850. This melioration was perfectly timed, as prices reached a level whereby it was ranked Deuxième Cru in the 1855 Classification. Bernard Ginestet, writing in his Saint-Julien book, attributes the rise of Ducru-Beaucaillou to Antoine Ravez, who married Ducru’s daughter, Marie-Louise. The father of Ravez, Auguste Ravez, acted as député for the Gironde between 1816 and 1829 and ennobled by Charles X. After Bertrand Ducru passed away in 1829, the estate was run by his son Gustave and daughter Marie-Louise, though it is said that its stature and reputation was enhanced by the contacts and influence of her father-in-law, Auguste. That meant that quality of wine notwithstanding, Ducru-Beaucaillou was virtually guaranteed a high ranking in the 1855 Classification, eventually designating a Second Growth. In 1857, Gustave acquired Branaire from his cousin-in-law, Léo du Luc that begat the fellow Saint-Julien, Branaire-Ducru. Presumably, wishing to focus solely on Branaire, Gustave sold his share in Ducru-Beaucaillou to his sister in May 1860. One might have expected her to hold on to ownership for a number of years, but on 3 March 1866, she sold it to Lucie-Caroline Dassier, the wife of Nathaniel Johnston, for the princely sum of 1 million Francs. It was purchased in her name since it was underwritten by her family and added to Château Dauzac in Margaux that Johnston had acquired in 1863. --Neal Martin, Where the Heart Is: Ducru-Beaucaillou 1934-2018, July 2022 1. 1995 Ducru-Beaucaillou 2. 1996 Ducru-Beaucaillou 3. 2003 Ducru-Beaucaillou 4. 2005 Ducru-Beaucaillou 5. 2009 Ducru-Beaucaillou 6. 2014 Ducru-Beaucaillou 7. 2017 Ducru-Beaucaillou 8. 2018 Ducru-Beaucaillou

Château Ducru-Beaucaillou

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 2018

Delectable Wine
9.7

The 2018 Ducru-Beaucaillou, tasted just after my in-bottle tastings, is all mint and violet over the nose, precocious and generous, very pure and enticing. The palate is medium-bodied with a lot of new oak that will be subsumed with time. This is very pure, beautifully balanced, silky smooth with great precision on the finish. It is a superb 2018 that will need at least a decade in the cellar and with even more pixelation than the bottle earlier this year, it gets another precision point in my score. Tasted at the Ducru Beaucaillou vertical at the château. (Neal Martin, Vinous, July 2022)
— 2 years ago

Château Ducru-Beaucaillou

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 2005

Delectable Wine
9.5

The 2005 Ducru-Beaucaillou, tasted a dozen times since en primeur, was picked 21 September to 6 October, matured in 90% new oak for 18 months. It delivers a wall of black fruit on the nose that gradually opens up with aeration, touches of incense and wild mint, cedar coming through with time. But these aromatics remain very backward. The palate is medium-bodied with firm grippy tannins, fine acidity, solid and focused. Tremendously and uncompromisingly backward, this is a seriously fine Ducru-Beaucaillou that is just not yet ready, so go back to the cellar and leave it there for another five years. Tasted at the Ducru Beaucaillou vertical at the château. (Neal Martin, Vinous, July 2022)
— 2 years ago

Château Ducru-Beaucaillou

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 2017

Delectable Wine
9.4

The 2017 Ducru-Beaucaillou appears to have gained a little opulence since I last tasted it, just after bottling. Here it is armed with precocious blackberries, bilberry, violet petals and potpourri. Wonderful definition. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte, saturated tannins, superb intensity yet a Ducru-Beaucaillou with linearity and strictness. It is elevated by a saline finish that leaves the tongue tingling afterwards. A very fine Saint-Julien, it needs 4-5 years in the cellar. Tasted at the Ducru Beaucaillou vertical at the château. (Neal Martin, Vinous, July 2022)
— 2 years ago

Château Ducru-Beaucaillou

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 2009

Delectable Wine
9.7

The 2009 Ducru-Beaucaillou is a fantastic wine. Here it bursts from the glass, perhaps less Pauillac-like than previous bottles, beautifully defined with a smorgasbord of red and black fruit laced with cedar and tobacco. There is no hedonism here, just wonderful intensity and focus. The palate is fresh on the entry with a fine bead of acidity, very poise yet powerful with a multi-layered finish that just lacquers the mouth. It probably needs another 5-6 years in bottle, but what a wine. Stunning. Tasted at the Ducru Beaucaillou vertical at the château. (Neal Martin, Vinous, July 2022)
— 2 years ago

Château Ducru-Beaucaillou

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 1996

Delectable Wine
9.3

The 1996 Ducru-Beaucaillou is a vintage that I have not tasted for a number of years. Matured in two-thirds new oak, it has an open and expressive bouquet, a mixture of red and black fruit, estuarine scents, touches of liquorice emerging with time. It is higher-toned than the 1995 with iodine evolving with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent tannins, fresh acidity, quite sweet in the mouth and maybe like the 1995, just missing that complexity and terroir expression that I think has defined recent vintages from this estate. Maybe it is slightly compromised by some Merlot (25%) that was picked a but later, but still, there is a lot of pleasure to be found in this 1996. Tasted at the Ducru Beaucaillou vertical at the château. (Neal Martin, Vinous, July 2022)
— 2 years ago

Château Ducru-Beaucaillou

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 2014

Delectable Wine
9.5

The 2014 Ducru-Beaucaillou is one of my favourite vintages of this decade and here it outclasses the 2015. Superb delineation, this exudes gorgeous blackberry and earthy scents on the nose, soon overtaken by saline, almost briny aromas wafting from the Gironde estuary. The palate is medium-bodied with saturated tannins, layers of black fruit, sweet with blood orange and Asian spices developing towards the finish. Blind, it might pick this as coming from a warmer summer. It’s a great Ducru-Beaucaillou with charm and personality. Tasted at the Ducru Beaucaillou vertical at the château. (Neal Martin, Vinous, July 2022)
— 2 years ago

Château Ducru-Beaucaillou

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 2003

Delectable Wine
9.3

The 2003 Ducru-Beaucaillou, picked 15-25 September and matured in 90% new oak, has a ripe and opulent bouquet with lavish black fruit, fresh fig, dates and a touch of liquorice, though here is no sense of over-maturity here. It is fresher than a lot of ‘03s that I have recently tasted. The palate is well balanced with supple, rounded tannins. There is a real candied essence to this Ducru-Beaucaillou, with quite a pronounced liquorice finish that you want to go back to. This is ageing well - one of the better wines of this infamous growing season. Tasted at the Ducru Beaucaillou vertical at the château. (Neal Martin, Vinous, July 2022)
— 2 years ago

Château Ducru-Beaucaillou

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 1995

Delectable Wine
9.5

The 1995 Ducru-Beaucaillou, matured in two-thirds new oak, has a very refined bouquet with blackberry, raspberry, rose petal and cedar aromas, very focused and sophisticated. The palate is well balanced with sour red cherries, balsamic and cedar notes, vibrant and full of energy, though you might well argue it doesn’t quite have the panache and complexity of ensuing vintages on the finish. But it is certainly ageing well and is drinking perfectly now. Tasted at the Ducru Beaucaillou vertical at the château. (Neal Martin, Vinous, July 2022)
— 2 years ago