Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou 2021
SKU
CDBU202110 UCAU
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Aromas of blackberries, blackcurrants, new leather and bark.
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Blackcurrant cordial, black cherry compote, violets, chocolate mint and espresso.
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Pairs well with lamb and beef.
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1 or more bottles$469.00
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James Suckling97 points
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Jeb Dunnuck97 points
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The Wine Advoca96 points
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Decanter96 points
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Antonio Galloni98 points
Editors notes
For 300 years, six families have nurtured an indelible bond with Château Ducru-Beaucaillou. They are forever captives of this prestigious estate; the Desjean, Bergeron, Ducru, Johnston, Desbarat, or finally the Borie's families were never short of praise for it. Today, the resident owner Bruno-Eugène Borie, 3rd generation at the helm of the estate, cultivates the lands of this 2nd Classified Growth in 1855 and his French art of living with passion and rigour.
Château Ducru-Beaucaillou owes its name to its "beautiful pebbles" ("beaux Cailloux", in French) that geologists refer to less romantically as Günzian gravel. These quartz pebbles were deposited by the Gironde estuary at the beginning of the early Quaternary period, some two million years ago. These Günzian gravels make soils that are poor in plant nutrients. But it is their very agrological paucity that guarantees the qualitative excellence of the wines. A choice of nature.
Another privilege of the Château Ducru-Beaucaillou terroir: its proximity to the Gironde estuary, the largest in Europe at 635 km2 and here more than three kilometres wide. On this exceptional site, the four daily tides stir up large bodies of water, mitigating harsh winters, moderating summer heatwaves, deflecting hail trajectories, and promoting good respiration.
Details
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Wine Type
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Vintage
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Variety
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Brand
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Location
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Cellaring
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Closure
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Alcohol Percentage
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Bottle Size
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Oak Type
Tasting Profile
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Light (Light)Full (Full)
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Low Tannin (Low Tannin)Tannic (Tannic)
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Sweet (Sweet)Dry (Dry)
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Low Acidity (Low Acidity)High Acidity (High Acidity)
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Aroma
- Blueberry
- Boysenberry
- Herbal
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Palate
- Blue Fruits
- Cassis
- Graphite
Food Pairings
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Pork -
Red Meat
Critic Scores & reviews
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James Suckling
97"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."
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Jeb Dunnuck
97"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."
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The Wine Advocate
96"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."
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Decanter
96"Beautiful and beguiling nose, perfumed blackcurrants and dark fruits; damsons, plums, raspberries and rose petals. Lovely crunchy fruit, real bite and presence in the mouth. Excellent precision, tannins are succulent and ripe they fill the mouth with a juicy, intense granular texture. There is such depth to this - perfume, tobacco, earth, violets and concentrated fruits that have a verticality to them with an unprecedented 98% of Cabernet Sauvignon providing the support and the backbone. There is a crystalline purity to the fruit giving tension to the overall frame, it’s focussed and driven all with excellent definition. This is not a wallflower of a wine - it’s charming and confident, strutting its stuff right now and giving you absolut St-Julien terroir and vintage markers in the glass with slate, graphite and liquorice salinity on show. Skilled winemaking on show."
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Antonio Galloni
98"(Vinous) The 2021 Ducru-Beaucaillou is a pretty significant departure from the past, as it is nearly pure Cabernet Sauvignon. A deep, aristocratic wine, the 2021 possesses remarkable intensity from start to finish. Inky dark fruit, bittersweet chocolate and leather are some of the myriad nuances that develop with some aeration. The 2021 is so well balanced. The 100% new oak, often quite dominant in Ducru en primeur, is so well integrated, likely because lower alcohol extracted less oak imprint. The 2021 is a drop dead gorgeous wine, and a Ducru for the ages. Superb."
Other vintages
Love this wine? Here's a list of other vintages we have in stock if you'd like to try them as well.
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- Variety Cabernet Blend
- Vintage 2020
- Brand Château Ducru-Beaucaillou
- Cellaring 15 Plus Years
- Wine Type Red
- Alcohol Percentage 14.5% Alcohol
Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou 2020-
James Suckling99 points
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Jeb Dunnuck99 points
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Lisa Perrotti-B97 points
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Jane Anson98 points
$480.00
Current auction
All current auctions for this wine & any different vintages.
Locations
France
Wine is being produced throughout France and has been done for over 2,500 years with certain Châteaux dating their history back to Roman times, around 6th Century BC. Ranking second in the world in per-capita consumption and first in total production quantity. More so than the overall quantity of wine is the quantity of truly great wines coming out of France makes the nation the envy of wine-making nations worldwide.
Two concepts pivotal to the higher end French wines, in particular, are the idea of 'terroir' and the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) system. Terroir refers to the way the geography, geology and climate find their way into the glass, telling a story of the origin of the wine. The AOC was set up in 1935 and has the primary goal of protecting the authenticity of the wines and the livelihoods of the producers. Appellation rules strictly define which varieties of grapes and winemaking practices are approved for classification in each of France's several hundred geographically defined appellations, which can cover entire regions, individual villages or in some cases, like in Burgundy even specific vineyards.
Classic wine regions in France include Champagne (home of Champagne), Burgundy (Pinot Noir and Chardonnay), Bordeaux (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot), Alsace (Aromatic varietals), Loire Valley (Chenin Blanc, Crémant) and the Rhône Valley (Syrah, Grenache Mourvedre)
The Bordeaux classification of 1855 is still in use, as is the Sauternes and Barsac Classification of the same year. Wines from certain regions can be bought En Primeur, which is when the wine is sold prior to it being bottled.
Bordeaux
Bordeaux has a rich history of winemaking, dating back to the Roman times. Today, it is known as one of the most significant wine regions in the world, with a reputation for producing complex, full-bodied red wines. The region is home to a diverse range of terroirs, each with its own unique microclimate, soil composition, and grape varieties.
The left bank of Bordeaux is dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, which thrives in the region's gravelly soils. These wines tend to be bold, tannic, and complex, with notes of blackcurrant, cedar, and tobacco. On the right bank, Merlot is king, producing wines that are softer and fruitier, with notes of plum, cherry, and chocolate.
Aside from the red blends, Bordeaux is also renowned for its sweet wines, particularly from the Sauternes and Barsac appellations. These wines are made using a unique process that involves botrytis, or "noble rot," which concentrates the sugars in the grapes, resulting in a lusciously sweet and complex wine.
Bordeaux's classification system has evolved over time, with some estates moving up or down the ranks depending on the quality of their wines. Today, the system includes five growths, with Premier Cru being the highest and Deuxièmes Crus being the second-highest. There is also a separate classification for the sweet wines of Sauternes and Barsac, with Chateau d’Yquem holding the highest rank.
Overall, Bordeaux is a region that continues to captivate wine enthusiasts around the world with its rich history, diverse terroirs, and exceptional wines.
Saint-Julien
Saint-Julien is an appellation for distinctive red wines of the Haut-Médoc district of Bordeaux in the South West of France. The Appellation laws for Saint-Julien were created in 1936 and state that its wines must be made from grapes grown within the villages of Saint-Julien Beychevelle, or other specific parts of the areas of Cussac and Saint-Laurent. Some of the most renowned grapes approved for growth here are Cabernet-Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot. Located between the more famous appellations of Pauillac and Margaux, this wine region is a respectable source of refined, aromatic wines which also carry tannic and masculine notes.
Producing over 450,000 cases of wine each year, Saint-Julien is divided into two vital areas, which include the riverside estates around the village of St. Julien and Southern estates around the village of Beychevelle. Home to over 26 vineyards spanning an area of 910 hectares, this area is the smallest of the major Bordeaux appellations in Médoc, but has the highest ratio of classified terroir of any Bordeaux region. The soil type of this region is made up of extremely fine gravel for the vineyards bordering the river and for those vineyards more inland, the gravel is mixed with clay, that produce grapes with a wide spectrum of explosive flavour.
About the brand Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou
One of the oldest properties in the Médoc, Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste is a winery in the Pauillac appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. It is also the name of the red wine that this property produces. The wine produced here was one of the 18 Cinquièmes Crus classified in the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855. The site boasts high-quality soil, a favourable climate, and a team drawing on centuries of experience and expertise. Its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and the Gironde estuary greatly influences the region’s climate. Strong ocean winds cross the coastal pine forest and slow down as they meet air currents from the estuary, introducing a measure of humidity to the atmosphere. What’s more, the climate features excellent sunshine, hot summers, and mild winters.
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