2020 was a historical year for many, but for the Super Second Saint-Julién powerhouse Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, it was especially significant.  The 2020 vintage for Ducru-Beaucaillou marked their tricentennial anniversary. If there’s ever an excuse to raise a glass to something, three hundred years of excellent winemaking would certainly be it!

To commemorate this historic event, Ducru-Beaucaillou has decided to celebrate in style and redesign their classic label, just for this year.  The gentleman who helmed this decision was none other than the legendary Bruno Borie.  Ever the contemporary art enthusiast, Mr. Borie stated, “It was our conviction that the creation of this ephemeral label designed expressly for Château Ducru-Beaucaillou’s three hundredth vintage had to be seen as an event in and of itself.  It was necessarily inspired by a poetic rebirth of Ducru-Beaucaillou’s legendary label, which had remained unchanged since its creation by the Johnstons in 1870.  This new design recalls major art movements and techniques of the twentieth century: abstract art, collage, de-structured forms, and new realism.”

With a triple collage of the Victorian tower from the château’s façade, a gorgeous enameled Roman numeral III etched on the bottle’s shoulder, Ducru-Beaucaillou's 2020 in bottle is simply a work of art.  This dazzling design is playful and flamboyant, yet timelessly elegant – indicative of the precious contents that lie within.

Tasting Notes:

"The 2020 Ducru-Beaucaillou is a blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon and 19% Merlot, aging for approximately 18 months in 100% new barriques. It has a pH of 3.83, 13.5% alcohol and an IPT (total polyphenol index) of 90. Opaque purple-black colored, the nose slowly unfurls to reveal tantalizing scents of crushed blackcurrants, wild blueberries and boysenberries, leading to suggestions of chocolate mint, star anise, red roses and unsmoked cigars with a waft of cedar chest. The medium-bodied palate delivers impactful, muscular black fruits with a firm frame of ripe, fine-grained tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and fragrant." Lisa Perotti-Brown, May 2021 Week 3: The Wine Advocate (05/20/2021) Rating: 95-97 Drink: 2027-2052

"An amazing Ducru, one of the wines of the vintage. Hugely persistent, chiselled and precise, yet succulent in its berry and cassis fruit character. The slate and pencil lead finish slows things down and grabs hold of you, I love the push-and-pull of the tannins. Always a confident and well-finessed wine, really flexing its muscles in 2020. 100% new oak barrels. 3.83pH." Jane Anson, Decanter (04/30/2021) Rating: 98

"A blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon and 19% Merlot, brought up in new oak, the 2020 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou offers a gorgeously pure nose of crème de cassis, graphite, crushed stone, toasty oak, and lead pencil shavings. Full-bodied, concentrated, and structured, it reminds me of a hypothetical mix of the 2010 and 2016, offering serious concentration paired with a gorgeous sense of precision and purity. It's going to take a decade of cellaring to hit the early stages of maturity (it will have some up-front appeal if you're interested) yet evolve for 50 years or more. Along with the Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, it might be the wine of the vintage from the Médoc." Jeb Dunnuck, Bordeaux 2020: En Primeur - Part 1 (05/23/2021) Rating: 97-99