Ducru Beaucaillou 2021

St Julien, Second Growth

Units	Size	Case size	GBP Price:	Quantities	Buy
6	75cl Bottle	Case 6	£820 per Case	Case	[Add to shopping basket]

Tasting Notes
The 2021 Ducru-Beaucaillou captures all the potential it showed from barrel. A delicate, understated wine, the 2021 impresses above all else with its finesse. All the elements are impeccably balanced throughout. Time in the glass brings out the wine's inner sweetness and gorgeous perfume. The balance with oak, at times a challenge here, is also flawless. With lower alcohol and therefore also less extraction from oak than recent vintages, the 2021 is shaping up to be a modern-day classic. The blend is 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Merlot, the highest amount of Cabernet Sauvignon ever here. What a wine. Score: 98 Antonio Galloni, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2031-2061 27 February 2024
The 2021 Ducru-Beaucaillou, bottled July 2023, has a classically styled bouquet: blackberry, iodine and, again, a conspicuous marine influence of kelp and sea spray. The nose has very fine delineation—cool, calm and collected. The palate is medium-bodied with fine depth, although there remains some new oak to be subsumed at the moment, and that partially shades the terroir toward the finish. But it is finely balanced and poised. A dash of black pepper on the aftertaste lingers in the mouth. This is a delightful, well-crafted Ducru-Beaucaillou that may merit a higher score down the line. Score: 94 Neal Martin, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2028-2050 22 February 2024
Plush depth to the savoury black fruit, with the highest ever level of Cabernet Sauvignon in this wine, and it's a stand out in the vintage. Not the exuberance that you find in the most recent years of Ducru, but it is excellent, with a creaminess to the cassis fruit alongside rose petal and peony aromatics. Sculpted and seductive, with the austere tannins that are a signature of the year. 100% new oak, IPT 100. Score: 96 Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2027-2044 11 May 2022
Deep, bright purple hue. Elegant cedar, dark-fruit and cassis nose. Lovely depth of fruit, velvety texture, abundant but polished tannins and lingering freshness. Drives on the finish. A well-groomed thoroughbred. Pure, precise and long and a little more classic than recent years. Score: 17+ James Lawther MW, JancisRobinson.com Maturity: 2030-2050 11 May 2022
Firm, structured and pure with a cool and solid core of dark currants, blackberries, tar, pencil lead and bitter chocolate. Hints of tobacco, too. Firm but silky tannins. Very pure, with a long, mineral finish. Intense and very focused. 98% cabernet sauvignon and 2% merlot. Score: 96 - 97 James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com 01 May 2022
A wine that will delight Médoc purists, the 2021 Ducru-Beaucaillou is a blend of fully 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Merlot and checks in at a mere 12.5% alcohol. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of dark berries, cigar wrapper, violets, loamy soil and spices, it's full-bodied, layered and velvety, with superb depth at the core, lively acids and powdery tannins. Complete and penetrating, it's a true classic, reminiscent of a modern-day version of Ducru's brilliant 1996—though today's precision winemaking means that the 2021 is unlikely to go through so long a hibernation as that vintage. Score: 94 - 96 William Kelley, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com 29 April 2022
Lastly, the 2021 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou might be the wine of the vintage. It has more depth and density than just about every other wine out there, all while still bringing beautiful tannins and elegance. A blend of 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Merlot, harvested from September 21 to October 10th, it was vinified in wooden tronconique tanks and is still aging in new barrels. This beauty hit 12.5% natural alcohol, with a pH of 3.88 and an IPT that's just about off the charts. Deep black and blue fruits, graphite, spicy oak, tobacco, and chalky minerality all define the bouquet, and it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a concentrated, powerful mouthfeel, building yet fine tannins, and a great finish. Where most 2021s are going to offer plenty of up-front appeal, this is going to benefit from a solid 4-6 years of bottle age and be incredibly long lived. Score: 95 - 97 Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com 06 February 2022

Tasting Notes

The 2021 Ducru-Beaucaillou captures all the potential it showed from barrel. A delicate, understated wine, the 2021 impresses above all else with its finesse. All the elements are impeccably balanced throughout. Time in the glass brings out the wine's inner sweetness and gorgeous perfume. The balance with oak, at times a challenge here, is also flawless. With lower alcohol and therefore also less extraction from oak than recent vintages, the 2021 is shaping up to be a modern-day classic. The blend is 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Merlot, the highest amount of Cabernet Sauvignon ever here. What a wine.

Score: 98

Antonio Galloni, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2031-2061 27 February 2024

The 2021 Ducru-Beaucaillou, bottled July 2023, has a classically styled bouquet: blackberry, iodine and, again, a conspicuous marine influence of kelp and sea spray. The nose has very fine delineation—cool, calm and collected. The palate is medium-bodied with fine depth, although there remains some new oak to be subsumed at the moment, and that partially shades the terroir toward the finish. But it is finely balanced and poised. A dash of black pepper on the aftertaste lingers in the mouth. This is a delightful, well-crafted Ducru-Beaucaillou that may merit a higher score down the line.

Score: 94

Neal Martin, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2028-2050 22 February 2024

Plush depth to the savoury black fruit, with the highest ever level of Cabernet Sauvignon in this wine, and it's a stand out in the vintage. Not the exuberance that you find in the most recent years of Ducru, but it is excellent, with a creaminess to the cassis fruit alongside rose petal and peony aromatics. Sculpted and seductive, with the austere tannins that are a signature of the year. 100% new oak, IPT 100.

Score: 96

Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2027-2044 11 May 2022

Deep, bright purple hue. Elegant cedar, dark-fruit and cassis nose. Lovely depth of fruit, velvety texture, abundant but polished tannins and lingering freshness. Drives on the finish. A well-groomed thoroughbred. Pure, precise and long and a little more classic than recent years.

Score: 17+

James Lawther MW, JancisRobinson.com Maturity: 2030-2050 11 May 2022

Firm, structured and pure with a cool and solid core of dark currants, blackberries, tar, pencil lead and bitter chocolate. Hints of tobacco, too. Firm but silky tannins. Very pure, with a long, mineral finish. Intense and very focused. 98% cabernet sauvignon and 2% merlot.

Score: 96 - 97

James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com 01 May 2022

A wine that will delight Médoc purists, the 2021 Ducru-Beaucaillou is a blend of fully 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Merlot and checks in at a mere 12.5% alcohol. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of dark berries, cigar wrapper, violets, loamy soil and spices, it's full-bodied, layered and velvety, with superb depth at the core, lively acids and powdery tannins. Complete and penetrating, it's a true classic, reminiscent of a modern-day version of Ducru's brilliant 1996—though today's precision winemaking means that the 2021 is unlikely to go through so long a hibernation as that vintage.

Score: 94 - 96

William Kelley, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com 29 April 2022

Lastly, the 2021 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou might be the wine of the vintage. It has more depth and density than just about every other wine out there, all while still bringing beautiful tannins and elegance. A blend of 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Merlot, harvested from September 21 to October 10th, it was vinified in wooden tronconique tanks and is still aging in new barrels. This beauty hit 12.5% natural alcohol, with a pH of 3.88 and an IPT that's just about off the charts. Deep black and blue fruits, graphite, spicy oak, tobacco, and chalky minerality all define the bouquet, and it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a concentrated, powerful mouthfeel, building yet fine tannins, and a great finish. Where most 2021s are going to offer plenty of up-front appeal, this is going to benefit from a solid 4-6 years of bottle age and be incredibly long lived.

Score: 95 - 97

Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com 06 February 2022

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