CHATEAU DUCRU BEAUCAILLOU 2eme Grand Cru Classe, Saint-Julien 2021 Bottle

Description

The 2021 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou has received outstanding acclaim, earning 98 points from Vinous for its finesse and impeccable balance. This delicate wine features a blend of 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Merlot, marking the highest proportion of Cabernet in the estate’s history. The bouquet reveals inner sweetness and an alluring perfume, showcasing the wine's potential. Decanter awarded it 97 points, highlighting its vibrant nose of dark fruits, liquorice, and cocoa, along with fresh acidity and softly grained tannins that provide structure and texture. Wine Enthusiast also rated it 97 points for its rich black-currant fruits and solid tannins. James Suckling gave it 96-97 points for its firm structure and purity, emphasising dark currants and a long, mineral finish.

*****

VINOUS 98 points
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. - Antonio Galloni

DECANTER 97 points
Tasted by: Georgina Hindle
(at Bordeaux, 30 Nov 2023)
Part of St-Julien 2021 in bottle: Overview plus top-scoring wines
Drinking Window: 2027 - 2050
Richly scented and vibrant nose of dark fruits, liquorice and cocoa. Supple and invigorating, fresh acidity lifting the expression, nuanced and detailed. Softly grained tannins have a chalky aspect giving structure and a filling texture, lots of graphite and wet stones with black berry notes and such energy throughout. Juicy and alive, this is classic in the best sense, and has immediate charm but with the potential to age. I also love the fresh, zesty orange aspects and cool lift throughout.

WINE ENTHUSIAST 97 points
Almost entirely Cabernet, this wine is packed with aromatic black-currant fruits. It is impressively rich with solid tannins and black plum, walnut and berry flavors. Drink this powerful wine from 2028 at the earliest. — Roger Voss

JAMES SUCKLING 96-97 points
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.

THE WINE ADVOCATE (94-96) points
Reviewed by: William Kelley
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.