Château Ducru Beaucaillou 2020
• Domaine: Château Ducru Beaucaillou
• Appellation: Saint-Julien
• Classification: Second Growth, 2ème Grand Cru Classé
• Origin: Left Bank, Bordeaux, France
At Laguna Cellar, we try not to pick favorites. But sometimes a producer is just so special that we can’t help but be a little partial to them. This is very much the case for Château Ducru-Beaucaillou. This St-Julien Second Growth is simply superb. Robert Parker Jr describes the wines from this “Super Second” in his tome on Bordeaux to be the perfect essence of “elegance, symmetry, balance, breed, class and distinction.” If a reclassification were ever to be in the cards, Château Ducru-Beaucaillou would surely have a shot at First Growth status.
Château Ducru-Beaucaillou has a long history that dates back to the 13th Century. It received its namesake when Bertrand Ducru purchased the estate back in 1795. The Château was loved by politicians and noblemen alike. Bertrand Ducru’s daughter married the speaker for the French Parliament, and the story goes that he switched the politician’s customary glass of water for a glass of Château Ducru-Beaucaillou.
The property had a sterling reputation from being classified as a Second Growth in 1855 and was sold in 1866 to Lucie Caroline Dassier for one million francs. Dassier was the wife of the famous negociant Nathaniel Johnston. Johnston performed numerous experiments at Château Ducru-Beaucaillou to protect the vines from various rots and diseases. He developed the first solution for mildew by creating what is now called, “Bordeaux Soup.” This concoction is a mixture of lime milk and copper sulfite used to cure the vines of mildew. It is still used to protect against mildew today.
Château Ducru-Beaucaillou is unique in so many aspects. One of which is that it receives part of its namesake from the terroir that is specific to this estate. The estate’s signature Gunz gravel reflects the sun’s rays and offers the perfect drainage for the 50 hectares Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot vines. The name, “Beaux Cailloux,” loosely translates to, “beautiful stones.” The winemaking team firmly believes these special pebbles do all the work on the estate in transforming their precious grapes into astounding, mineral-driven wines with tremendous ageing potential. Guests to the chateau are sometimes given a token of souvenir in the form of a velvet-boxed pebble from the land around the estate.
One cannot talk about Château Ducru-Beaucaillou without mentioning the current owner, Bruno Borie. Borie is a legendary figure in the Bordeaux Wine Community, and brings his passion, knowledge, and perfectionism to Château Ducru-Beaucaillou. Borie made many contributions to the Wine and Spirits world, including revitalizing the image of the popular brand Lillet by making sure it was featured in the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace. This likable and happy man made many major contributions to the estate, but the most notable one was ridding it of its TCA - cork taint - problem in the 1980s and 1990s. Bruno made sure that the older vintages were recorked, and all the contaminated corks were destroyed.
The wines from Château Ducru-Beaucaillou differ from some of the brawnier wines St-Julien has to offer. They develop very slowly over time but are definitely worth the wait, as the results are a stunning harmony of fruit and power.
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 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, Bordeaux Primeur Week (04/30/2021) Rating: 98 Drink: 2029-2045
"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
LWIN | 1009479 |
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Stock Status | In Stock |
Appellation | Saint-Julien |
Vintage | 2020 |
Brand | Château Ducru-Beaucaillou |
Shipping Weight | 3.000000 |