Château Ducru-Beaucaillou - St.-Julien 2020 (750ml)

 
WA
95
D
99
JA
98
JD
100
JS
97
TWI
99
V
96-98

Price: $289.00

Producer Château Ducru-Beaucaillou
Country France
Region Bordeaux
Subregion St. Julien
Varietal Bordeaux Blend
Vintage 2020
Sku 1005797
Size 750ml

Jeb Dunnuck: 100 Points

jd

The Wine Independent: 99 Points

The 2020 Ducru-Beaucaillou 81% Cabernet Sauvignon and 19% Merlot is deep garnet-purple in color. Classic notes of cassis cedar and graphite open out to nuances of menthol tilled soil tobacco and violets. The medium-bodied palate is refreshing and savory with grainy tannins and a long minerally finish. This is classic Ducru.

Decanter: 99 Points

Evocative and moreish a Ducru that beguiles and delights from the start with a scented nose full of cedar rose violets cherries and damsons - a riot of Cabernet typicity. Vibrant and pulsing on the palate this has grip and intention from the get-go. Massy full and wide in the mouth - there?s density and this is broad but it?s delicate too - a sense of weightlessness with such movement and energy and a soft sweet succulent grip throughout. Powerful with present tannins that unravel slowly so there?s time to appreciate the details as they come. A thoughtful and intellectual wine that leaves a smile on your face.

Jane Anson: 98 Points

I've tasted this vintage a few times recently and each time its proved impossible to resist showcasing precision and crafting with concentrated and intense cassis and bilberry fruits loaded up with cigar box slate sage and a delicate caress of crushed roses. Harvest September 11 to 30. Emmanuel Bonneau technical director Eric Boissenot consultant. Anniversary of the founding 1720 marriage between Jacques de Bergeron and Marie Dejean heiress of the vines that would become Ducru Beaucaillou so this marks 300 years from the birth of the property.

James Suckling: 97 Points

Blackcurrants and blueberries with violets and crushed stone. Extremely aromatic. Full-bodied but very tight and reserved with racy almost steely tannins. Some subtle sweet fruit in the center palate. Great transparency and clarity. Super precision here. Vertical and polished. Try after 2028.

jd

Vinous: 96-98 Points

The 2020 Ducru Beaucaillou was picked from 11-30 September matured entirely in new oak for an expected 18 months. It has a very succinct bouquet not one that leaps from the glass and demands attention but it unfolds slowly at its own pace revealing enticing scents of blackberry cedar iris petals and crushed stone. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit. There is a saline spine that runs through this Saint-Julien from start to finish a quite enormous structure that exerts grip towards the finish. It is not a Ducru-Beaucaillou that goes out to deliver finesse or understatement but one that you will have to cellar for a few years pull out and have the superlatives ready. This is an immense and cerebral Ducru-Beaucaillou from Bruno Borie and his team. (Drink between 2031-2065)

Wine Advocate: 95 Points

The 2020 Ducru-Beaucaillou unwinds in the glass with aromas of dark berries pencil shavings violets and pipe tobacco all framed by creamy new oak. On the palate it's medium to full-bodied fleshy and concentrated with a deep but tightly wound core that's still quite wrapped up in extract and oak tannin even if it isn't quite as big-boned as its 2019 counterpart. It will require some patience.